It could be a big two months for the Philippines - a Miss Universe winner in Catriona Gray and now the Azkals will be looking to surprise football fans, but they will be tested as they meet powerhouse South Korea, China and Kyrgyzstan.

Ramsay made the call to join the Azkals in 2015 and has since made 27 appearances scoring four goals. The national team made history in March by beating Tajikistan 2-1 to qualify for next month’s tournament.

The former A-League man believes the Philippines won’t be going to the UAE to make up the numbers. Among the Azkals key players are Cardiff City goalkeeper Neil Etheridge and veteran captain Phil Younghusband.

“There won’t be a group in the Asian Cup that’s an easy group,” Ramsay told FTBL.

“Right across Asia, teams are getting stronger and more competitive. There are some tough teams in our group, but football is a funny game, sometimes pressure gets to some teams and hopefully that’ll be the case with the likes of South Korea. We’ll just go there, express ourselves, be confident and we’ll see how far it takes us.

“Phil has been part of the Azkals from the get-go and he’s achieved over 100 caps for the country, so I think there’s no better person to captain the side and hopefully we can make more history together in the Asian Cup.

Philippines prepared for their first ever Asian Cup appearance

“Neil has done very well for himself, he started with Fulham with Mark Schwarzer. He then went to Walsall and then Cardiff where they got promoted. He’s now playing in the Premier League now and a lot of people are following his journey and his career.

“It’s great to see him playing in the Premier League. Someone like that puts Filipino football on the map as a marketing tool as well. Someone with his stature in the team will help us in the near future and long-term as well being a goalkeeper.

“He’s very humble and he’s a great example to show that with hard work and perseverance, you can achieve great things. He was playing in League 2 with Walsall and worked his way up and look at him now.”

The man who is in charge of the Azkals is Sven-Goran Eriksson, who managed England at two World Cups and has won titles in Portugal, Italy and Sweden.

While Eriksson was only appointed in October, Ramsay believes the squad has acclimatised well to his style.

“It’s a massive appointment, it shows the Philippines is taking football seriously,” the winger said.

“Getting someone of his calibre and his experience, he’s won many things in his coaching career. He’s well known throughout the world, so we’re all hoping he can help us as much as he can and by working together, hopefully we can achieve really good things in the future.”

Ramsay recalls himself being touted for the Socceroos in his Adelaide United days, but to no avail. The 30-year-old still supports Australia and keeps in touch with good friend Matt Jurman.

Australia is in Group B, while Philippines is in Group C and it’s possible for the nations to meet in the Round of 16.

“It would be great if we come across the Socceroos, hopefully we get out of our group and we draw them,” Ramsay said.

“I’ve got quite a few friends that are in the Socceroos set-up, so it’ll be nice to come against them. Australia’s given a lot to me and my family, so it’ll be a nice moment to represent my mum’s country, play against Australia and it would mean a lot to me.

“I’ve known Matty a very long time. There’s Mooysie (Aaron Mooy), we played together at Melbourne City and my wife is good friends with his wife too. I also played with Mathew Leckie at Adelaide United, it’ll be nice to come up against them.”


Ramsay has just enjoyed a spell with Malaysian outfit Felda United FC, but has recently signed for Thai League 1 side Sukhothai FC.

He recalls having big dreams of playing in Europe when he was playing in Australia after having a taste in the UK.

Ramsay then left Melbourne in 2015 to join Iranian side Tractor Sazi and realised Asia was vastly progressing as a footballing continent.

He also has dreams of joining the J.League in the near future.

“When I was a youngster, I just came back from Scotland and playing in the A-League, I always had that ambition to go back to Europe and back when I was in Melbourne.

“I had some chances to go to Asia, but I just thought the timing wasn’t right and I thought I’d see what else would come up. Each year, Asia is getting stronger and I made that move to go to Iran, it was something I couldn’t turn down, I said ‘This is me now, I’ll try make a good career in Asia and try set my family up’.

“I’ve got flexibility with my Australian and Filipino passport because I also count as an ASEAN under my Filipino one and Asian under my Aussie. It gives me flexibility in terms of signing as a foreigner.

“To be honest I never really thought of going to these countries when I was playing in the A-League when I was 22-23, but nowadays, a lot of Aussies are trying to go to Asia.

Ramsay training in his Melbourne City days

“Asia is very competitive financially as well. They’re able to bring European and it only makes the leagues in Asia get stronger and Thailand is definitely one of them. The national team too, not long ago I watched Thailand play Australia and let’s be honest, it wasn’t an easy game was it?

“After qualifying for the Asian Cup, the Azkals are now getting a lot of support. For a period, the football in the Philippines was on the rise and then it declined a little bit.

“It’s very hard to compete with basketball as it’s the No.1 sport, but when the Azkals are taking part in tournaments like the Asian Cup, I think it shows football and the national team is heading in the right direction and hopefully in the near future, we can really compete with the basketball.”