MANILA---Cambodia and Afghanistan loom as possible first-round opponents of the Philippines in the 2014 World Cup Qualifying in June.

After advancing to the AFC Challenge Cup main tournament next year, the Azkals are shifting their focus to the World Cup qualifying, which the country is joining for the first time since the 2002 tournament in South Korea.

Though the Philippines’ next opponent will not be known until tomorrow, team manager Dan Palami said they have received inside information that the Azkals may be pitted against Cambodia or Afghanistan on June 29 and July 3.

Because they did not join the last two World Cup qualifying stage, the Azkals are ranked 15th in the bottom 16 teams that will be playing in the first round.

Afghanistan and Cambodia are ranked second and third among the 16 teams.

“It’s safe to say that we will be favored if we draw either of the two teams,” said Palami at the victory luncheon hosted by broadcasting giant ABS-CBN, which holds the rights to air Azkals’ matches.

“We will start planning after we know our first-round opponent,” said Palami. “The continuity of the plan will be dependent on which team we will face.”

The Azkals are enjoying a run of good results, starting with the AFF Suzuki Cup where they reached the semifinals for the first time last December.

They made it next to the AFC Challenge Cup main tournament last week, after beating Bangladesh, 3-0, following draws against Palestine and host Myanmar in the qualifying event in Rangoon.

The Azkals received a P1.3 million bonus from ABS-CBN yesterday for qualifying in the Challenge Cup, apart from the network’s P600,000 aid for their three matches overseas last week.

The grant is part of an agreement with the network in exchange for the right to air the team’s matches.

Palami said the target is to reach the third round of the World Cup qualifying.

“Reaching the third round will be like surpassing the achievement of making the semifinals of the Suzuki Cup,” said Palami.

Also playing the first round are Laos, Myanmar, Chinese-Taipei, Macau, Timor Leste, Palestine, Pakistan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Malaysia.

The winner of the eight home-and-away games in the first round will join 22 other teams in the next phase, where teams will be drawn for another set of home-and-away series.

Powerhouse teams like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Oman and United Arab Emirates are already seeded in the second round.

The 15 winners in the second phase will move to the group stage qualifying, where Japan, Australia, North Korea and Bahrain are already seeded.

Cedelf Tupas, Inquirer.net