Philippines appoints 13th coach in six years

The Philippines team's Facebook account said they had signed a multi-year contract with Mr. Jrondi. 36-year-old midfielder Stephan Schrock will also join the team's coaching staff, at Jrondi's proposal.

Jrondi became the Philippines' 13th coach since 2017. Most only lasted a year, with the remaining two years at most - including the famous coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who once led the England team. In the same period, Vietnam only had two coaches, Park Hang-seo and Philippe Troussier. In the period 2011-2017, the Philippines also had only two coaches, Michael Weiss and Thomas Dooley.

"This is an honor as well as a great responsibility for me and my partner," Jrondi said. "Our main goal is to create a team that is competitive, but it requires careful study."

Jrondi is a Moroccan, holds a Pro License from UEFA, has just spent three years as a technical consultant for Qatari clubs. He also co-founded and owned Al Dafna club in Qatar, but has no experience coaching a professional team.

Former coach Josep Ferre did not help the team qualify for the 2022 AFF Cup group stage. Ferre was only appointed on December 8, to lead the team to the AFF Cup, but lost three and won only one match at the tournament. The Philippine Football Federation has not announced that they have terminated the contract with Mr. Ferre.

The Philippines has reached the semi-finals of the AFF Cup four times since 2010, thanks to its player naturalization policy. They are training in West Asia, preparing to play friendly matches against Kuwait on March 24 and Jordan on March 28. They are standing at 134th in the world, 23rd in Asia and third in Southeast Asia after Vietnam and Thailand.