Philippines calls former Premier League player to play for Vietnam
On the afternoon of November 8, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) announced the list of 26 national team players for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, most notably goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, who used to play in the English Premier League.
According to the list announced by PFF, captain goalkeeper Neil Etheridge will join veterans Manny Ott, Patrick Reichelt, Mike Ott, Kenshiro Daniels, OJ Porteria, Daisuke Sato... to lead the Philippine team in the first two matches of the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, against Vietnam (November 16) and Indonesia (November 21).
Neil Etheridge was born in 1990, of Filipino descent but grew up at Chelsea's youth academy, before moving to Fulham and starting his professional career, playing in English national tournaments.
The highlight of Neil Etheridge's career was winning promotion with Cardiff City and starting in the Premier League in the 2018/2019 season. Although he is 33 years old, Neil Etheridge is still the pride and support of the Philippine national team in the international arena.
Philippines head coach Michael Weiss said the squad this time is a good combination of experienced pillars and young talents who are making great progress through their performances at AFC-organized club tournaments.
"This gives us reason to be optimistic for the first match in the World Cup qualifiers against the Vietnamese team," said the German coach.
With the encounter with two Southeast Asian opponents in Group F of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Vietnam and Indonesia, Mr. Michael Weiss hopes to receive the support of fans.
To help the home team have more encouragement, PFF called on fans to come to Rizal Memorial Stadium (capital Manila) to cheer for the home team. Recently, although PFF has issued match tickets at a low price (from 45,000 to 210,000 VND), the number of tickets for the Philippines - Vietnam and the Philippines - Indonesia matches is still quite large./.
