KUWAIT CITY, July 22: Kuwait will face their first hurdle in the path towards the 2014 World Cup when they start the sudden death home-and-away qualifier against the Philippi-nes on Saturday at the Mohammad Al-Hammad (Qadsia Club) stadium in Hawally.
The build-up suggests the encounter is going to be explosive, considering the large number of Filipino expatriates in Kuwait.
The Kuwait National Soccer Team began preparations for this match on a confident note as they won the ‘Four-Nation’ tournament organized by Jordan whilst the Philippine Azkals, who arrived in the country Wednesday evening and were met by vociferous fans, lost to Bahrain. However, their German coach, Michael Weiss, shrugged off this defeat, saying the team were in Bahrain just to acclimatize, considering the torrid weather in Kuwait.

Eventhough the hosts start as favorites, their Serbian coach, Goran Tufegdzic, has warned against complacency.
The Azkals, on the other hand, will go into Saturday’s game with a lesser burden, and this could work to their advantage, since the Filipinos are known for basketball, with soccer playing only a second fiddle. Some even consider the qualification into the second round as an achievement.
The Philippine team were seen having their final practice at the Qadsia Stadium — venue of the match — on Friday evening.
Meanwhile, all indications point to the fact that the 25,000-capacity stadium will be a full house. Ticket sales, which kicked-off Thursday, saw the 8,000 KD 5 denomination tickets being snapped up within 24 hours.

For the KD 3 and KD 2 tickets, around 4,000 were sold by 4:00 pm Friday and more sales are expected on the day of the match.
Tickets will also be available for sale at the stadium before the match.
Information made available to the Arab Times states the tickets for the return match in Manila on July 28 had been sold out.
“Kuwait have been preparing for their match against the Philippines, and we hope to win the game 3-0,” stated Kuwait Head Coach Goran Tufegdzic during a press conference held earlier on Friday at the Movenpick Hotel. However, Tufegdzic was also quick to add that they are not underestimating the strength of the Philippine Azkals. “We respect the Philippine team. We are not treating them as first-timers although, Kuwait is more experienced,” he pointed out.
Tufegdzic was joined in by Al Azraq team captain Jarrah Al Ateeqi and Kuwait Media Officer Talal Al-Mehteb and the KFA translator. The head coach stated that aside from the team’s preparedness, they are also banking on the home court advantage and the support of the Kuwaitis as they battle off on the field.

On the other hand, Philippine Azkals coach Michael Weiss disclosed during the press conference that the Azkals have adjusted well to the heat during their brief stay in Bahrain. “Our strategies are in place, we won’t be running offensive after them upfront or else they’ll punish us severely. But definitely, we will give Kuwait a hard time,” he stressed.
When one reporter raised the issue about the nationality of some of the Philippine players, Weiss quickly brushed aside the comment and stressed its inaccuracy. “I don’t think the information was right or accurate.
Every single player in Azkals is either pure Filipino or have a father and mother from the Philippines. So there are no imported players. They are Filipinos and they can officially play in their country’s national team. Whether they grew up in Europe or Philippines, it doesn’t matter, they are Filipinos. If I compared the players of Qatar for example, I see many black players, I don’t know whether they are all pure Qataris.

One thing is for sure, all our players can play legally in the Philippines National Team. I think we have to deal with the players with respect, and in fact I don’t want to deal with such an issue because it hurts me personally, because my wife is from Japan and I have two kids. I don’t want them to be called half-half; they are human beings and they deserve respect as we have. For me, what is important is that they have an absolute right to play with their country’s national team,” he explained.
On the other hand, team captain Chieffy Caligdong is expected to do a lot of hard work during the game without skipper Aly Borromeo as they face Kuwait, one of the best among the GCC, and ranked 102 in the FIFA World Rankings. “I will do my best. It’s not about making a goal or score but it’s more about teamwork. Whatever one achieves, it’s because of team efforts,” he stated.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are expected to take a big step on the road towards the 2014 World Cup finals when they face minnows Hong Kong and the Maldives in Saturday’s qualifiers.

Elsewhere, Singapore host neighbours Malaysia in a hotly anticipated clash which has grabbed the attention of fans in both countries.
The winners of the 15 two-legged ties will qualify for the third round group stage, when Asian giants Japan, South Korea and Australia as well as North Korea and Bahrain join the fray. Saudi Arabia, 92nd in the FIFA rankings, and 50th-ranked Iran, both three-time winners of the Asian Cup, are unlikely have many problems disposing of their lowly opponents.
But excitement is at fever pitch in Singapore, whose Straits Times newspaper reported that tickets for the potentially feisty encounter with Malaysia had sold out in a matter of hours.
“The build-up suggests it could be one of the most explosive games in recent history between the Causeway rivals,” said the city-state’s Today newspaper.
Other notable clashes see India, who have never played in football’s showpiece, taking on the United Arab Emirates and minnows Laos playing underachievers China, who have only reached one World Cup in their history.

India coach Armando Colaco said a 2-1 friendly win over Qatar had given his side confidence ahead of their clash with the UAE after a miserable Asian Cup in January when they lost all three games, conceding 13 goals.
“My players are eager to play the UAE, and we will play to win. The Qatar win has begun to give us the belief that we need to beat sides like the UAE,” Colaco said, according to Gulf News.
“We are of course still the underdogs and the UAE is a great team, we’ve seen that from our videos, and the way in which they absolutely hammered Lebanon 6-2 just confirms our belief,” he added.
Vietnam striker Le Cong Vinh said his team did not fear 94th-ranked Qatar after Vietnam crushed Macau 13-1 in the first qualifying round, although he acknowledged there was a sizeable gap between the sides in the rankings.
“The coach and players respect Qatar but we do not fear them. We will try our utmost until the last minute,” the striker said. Vietnam are ranked 140th by FIFA.
Other ties on Saturday are Lebanon vs Bangladesh, Turkmenistan vs Indonesia, Oman vs Myanmar, Syria vs Tajikistan, Iraq vs Yemen, Uzbekistan vs Kyrgyzstan and Jordan vs Nepal.
The second legs will be played on July 28, with the draw for the third round taking place in Brazil on July 30.