June 26, 2011; The long road for the Azkals

That illustration is just a glimpse of what our Philippine Azkals football team will go through.

Complicated, yet feasible.

We will face Sri Lanka in the first round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers this coming Wednesday (@ Sri Lanka) and Sunday (@ the Rizal Memorial Stadium). But the question is, how did we come upon this?

It is because we are ranked low in the world and Asian rankings, that is why we need to compete in the 1st round. We didn't even join the 2010 qualifiers.

We were drawn to face Sri Lanka in a home-and-away series, wherein the winner via aggregate will advance to the 2nd round of qualifying, wherein Kuwait is waiting.

There will be 30 teams competing in Round 2. The 15 winners of the home and away series, plus thee top 5 Asian teams (Japan, South Korea, Australia, North Korea and Bahrain), will compete in Round 3. The top 5 teams received a bye to the third round as their bonus.

The twenty remaining teams will be split into five groups, consisting of four teams each, via a draw. They will undergo a single round robin and the top two teams of each group at the end of the round will make it through the 4th round.

In the fourth round, the teams, via another draw, will be split into two groups with five teams each. Each group will have a single round robin to determine the top two teams per group. Those four teams will FINALLY represent Asia in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, while the 3rd placers for both group will lock horns for a possible "wild card" slot. The winner of the that game will face either the CONCACAF's 4th placer, CONMEBOL's 5th placer, or the OPC champion in a home-and-away series. The winner will get Asia's fifth slot for the FIFA World Cup.

A mouthful isn't it? Well, all the Azkals need to do is to start good against Sri Lanka, and a few luck from the draw, and everything will fall into place :)

Don't forget to supports the Azkals, and all the other RP National teams at that ;)

So there you have it! You guys have just been fed!

God bless you guys! Stay safe! Peace out! The Wizard was here...:)

Comments, questions and suggestions are highly appreciated! :)