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The Philippine Azkals and Afghanistan battle in a friendly football match in Manila on September 12, 2023 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. The Azkals completed the come from behind win 2-1 after falling a goal down earlier. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

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Azkals vs Afghanistan football friendlies

ABS-CBN News

<div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/20230912-azkals-afghanistan-friendly-MD-20.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="The Philippine Azkals and Afghanistan battle in a friendly football match in Manila on September 12, 2023 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File."/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Philippine Azkals and Afghanistan battle in a friendly football match in Manila on September 12, 2023 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. <em><strong>Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File.</strong></em></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">MANILA -- The Philippine men&#x27;s national football team will no longer be referred to as the &quot;Azkals.&quot;</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This, according to Freddy Gonzalez, who serves as the manager of the squad as well as the director of national teams for the Philippine Football Federation (PFF).</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Speaking to reporters on Monday, Gonzalez explained that the squad will be called the &quot;Philippine men&#x27;s national team&quot; for now. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;Right now, we&#x27;re not even thinking about the moniker,&quot; said Gonzalez, stressing that their focus is on the team&#x27;s preparation for their upcoming FIFA World Cup/AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in March.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;We feel that, you know, while the Azkals name was great, it has served its purpose, and we feel like we are going to the next step of Philippine football,&quot; he explained.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The &quot;Azkals&quot; moniker grew into prominence during the national team&#x27;s campaign in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup, which marked the squad&#x27;s renaissance and thrust the players into the spotlight. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">But Gonzalez believes that as the team has changed its management and coaching staff, it is now the time to change its nickname as well. On Monday, the PFF formally announced that Belgian Tom Saintfiet will be the new coach of the team.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/2/26/tom-saintfiet-named-new-head-coach-of-ph-men-s-team-1214"></a><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/2/26/tom-saintfiet-named-new-head-coach-of-ph-men-s-team-1214">READ: Tom Saintfiet named new head coach of PH men&#x27;s team</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;It made sense to call the team [the Azkals] before,&quot; Gonzalez said. &quot;But because of the way we&#x27;re organizing everything, and with the whole new staff and whole new management in place, it&#x27;s time we moved on from that name and just evolve into something else.&quot;</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">He stressed that the change is not due to copyright or trademark issues, as the previous Azkals management &quot;was willing to turn over the trademark.&quot;</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;It&#x27;s nothing against them or that. It&#x27;s just that it&#x27;s a new evolution and we just need to move forward and move on,&quot; said Gonzalez. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Gonzalez was named the new team manager in January, shortly after longtime team manager Dan Palami stepped down.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/12/24/pff-names-freddy-gonzalez-as-director-of-national-teams"></a><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/12/24/pff-names-freddy-gonzalez-as-director-of-national-teams">READ: PFF appoints Freddy Gonzalez as director of national teams</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/09/24/football-dan-palami-steps-down-as-azkals-manager"></a><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/09/24/football-dan-palami-steps-down-as-azkals-manager">READ: Dan Palami steps down as Azkals manager</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">A new moniker for the national team may come from the management or from the fans, although Gonzalez did not offer a timeline as to when they will announce a new name.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The PFF also memorably changed the nickname of the popular women&#x27;s national team in 2021, when then-coach Marlo Maro distanced himself from the moniker &quot;Malditas.&quot; They officially adopted the &quot;Filipinas&quot; moniker in March 2022.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/10/05/21/ph-womens-football-team-will-be-malditas-no-more"></a><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/10/05/21/ph-womens-football-team-will-be-malditas-no-more">READ: PH women&#x27;s football team will be &#x27;Malditas&#x27; no more, says coach</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/03/31/22/ph-womens-football-team-gets-new-official-moniker" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/03/31/22/ph-womens-football-team-gets-new-official-moniker" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">READ: PH women&#x27;s football team gets new official moniker</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t9nqJpvetsA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>The Philippine men's national football team will no longer be referred to as the "Azkals."</p>

The Philippine men's national football team will no longer be referred to as the "Azkals."

Football: PFF 'moving on' from Azkals moniker

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Football: PFF 'moving on' from Azkals moniker

ABS-CBN News

Published February 26, 2024 05:02 PM PHT

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Philippine Azkals

Philippine men's national team

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Freddy Gonzalez

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Tom Saintfiet

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