Attacking Mid Fielder for the Azkals, Paul Mulders had completed making his full debut for first division dutch football club ADO Den Haag in the 3rd round Vs Omonia in the UEFA Europa League, The Philippine International player came in the 32nd minute and was solid in their home win vs Omonia, playing a force at the center, he tried hard to intercept and create passes for his team but they however lost on an aggregate score of 1-3 that saw his club out of the Europa League Cup.
ADO Den Haag who signed the Filipino-Dutch Mulders to a 2 year deal is on the Eredivisi (Top Football Division in Netherlands) This only means that he will be playing top football for 2 years atleast in the Netherlands.
Paul is a product of Ajax Youth Football System, he made his International appearance for the Philippines in the 5-1 Aggregate win on the 1st Round of the Fifa World Cup 2014 Qualifying match vs Sri Lanka. We have missed him on Kuwait matches due to an injury he suffered playing for the Azkals previous game.
He is expected to be on the starting line up of his Dutch club soon.
FOR the AZKALS
head coach Hans Michael Weiss, July 15 cannot come soon enough.
The date is
when the national squad departs for Bahrain for a pair of friendly matches with
the host nation’s Olympic football team—aside from a training camp designed to
help the Azkals acclimatize themselves to the heat and humidity of the Middle
East when they face Kuwait on July 23 in the second round of the Asian
Qualifiers of the 2014 World Cup.
The time away
will also be used as a breather, as in the last few days the Azkals have had to
fend off allegations of rape and rumors of discontent within the squad.
“I think it’s
good that the team will concentrate on playing football,” hoped Weiss, who
noted that the training camps abroad have done much for the nationals’
confidence and experience.
“There will be
far less distractions, however, there are always challenges. When we played in Mongolia, we
had to worry about the cold weather. And now it’s the heat of Kuwait.”
More than the
changes in climate, the Azkals face the daunting task of playing a much
higher-ranked foe in Kuwait
minus key players.
Skipper Aly
Borromeo and midfielder Stephan Schrock were suspended following the
accumulation of two yellow cards in the home-and-away series with Sri Lanka a few
weeks ago. Furthermore, the injuries to strikers Phil Younghusband and Angel
Guirado, and midfielders Jerry Lucena and Paul Mulders have the coaching staff
worried.
“Jerry has
played at a high level of football for the last 10 years,” expounded the German
who is now on his sixth month with the Azkals. “He’s 30 years of age and when
you suffer injuries at that age, they do not heal as fast. So as of the moment,
Jerry will be unavailable for the away leg.”
“As for
Mulders, he has an infection in his knee although he is taking antibiotics.”
But it isn’t
all gloom and doom for the Philippine team.
Left back Ray
Jonsson will be on hand for the Kuwait
matches after missing the Sri
Lanka series, while Fil-Dutch midfielder
Jason de Jong is back in harness and has made a good impression during the
team’s recent training and should form a nice partnership with Manuel Ott in
the middle third with Schrock out.
With key
players unavailable, football analysts have postulated that the Azkals will
play a more defensive-oriented game to hold off the Kuwaitis.
“I am not
going to give away our strategy for the game but we will play a little more
defensive than we were in the past,” reasoned out Weiss. “If we can hold them
scoreless or to just one goal, then anything can happen here in Manila for the July 28
match. But of course, we will try to score. If we can go on the attack, then we
will.”
Weiss also
believes that the team being away will allow them to reflect on how life has
changed for them after their phenomenal success in the last nine months.
“Football is
brutal,” pointed out the coach. “Not just how the sport is played but also how
it affects life. We have to be more humble and not go over the edge. If you
look at James Younghusband, he is a quiet competitor.
He’s very low
key and he prefers it that way. But I have never seen anything like this. Not
in Japan, China, Rwanda...I am told that this only
has been reserved for Manny Pacquiao. So I am happy to be a part of it.”
COLOMBO—They may have sterling club football careers, but for Stephan Schrock and Paul Mulders, nothing beats the feeling of representing the Philippines.
Schrock, a Filipino-German rightback who is one of the brightest talents in the German second division, and Fil-Dutch Mulders, who recently inked a two-year deal with Dutch first division team ADO Den Haag, will be making their debuts for their mothers’ country when the Azkals play Sri Lanka today.
“I am very proud to wear a Philippine shirt and I’m sure my nanay will also be proud,” the soft-spoken Schrock, whose mother hails from Cotabato, said in an interview with the Inquirer.
Schrock, a former German national Under-17 and Under-20 player who played with the likes of World Cup veterans Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil, has long been coveted by the Azkals, but a knee injury forced him out of the lineup in the AFC Challenge Cup in Myanmar last March.
Mulders’ entry to the team came as a surprise. He was referred by a friend to the Azkals’ management team, through social networking site Facebook, only last month and left Amsterdam for Manila immediately after signing with ADO.
Mulders is a starter in the last three Dutch teams he has played in and once scored against powerhouse Ajax at Amsterdam Arena.
“I’m happy that I’m here with the team,” said the 30-year-old Mulders, who, like Schrock, lost his father recently. “I really want to help.”
Mulders said he was ready to skip the early part of ADO’s training camp for their Europa League campaign just to be with the Azkals for the July 3 match in Manila.
Azkals coach Michael Weiss and manager Dan Palami have welcomed their inclusion in the squad.
“Schrock is a fantastic player,” said Weiss, who has deployed the fleet-footed Fil-German as a defensive midfielder alongside another Fil-German, Manny Ott.
“Mulders will help us with his experience,” said Weiss. “It’s kind of risky [deploying him on defense], but from what I saw yesterday, he is really good.”
