Football
John Duerden, Asia correspondent 5y

Sven-Goran Eriksson named head coach of the Philippines

The Philippines have appointed former England, Mexico and Manchester City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson as head coach of the national team ahead of the AFF Suzuki Cup in November and January's Asian Cup.

Eriksson has been appointed on a six-month deal that includes an option to extend, according to reports in the region and will oversee his first game on Nov. 13 against Singapore.

The 70-year-old will be assisted by Scott Cooper who has been in charge of the team since former England captain Terry Butcher resigned in August after less than two months in Manila.

"One of the most legendary coaches of all time, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will be coaching the Azkals for the Suzuki Cup and the Asian Cup," Philippines team manager Dan Palami said on Saturday during an AFF Suzuki Cup trophy tour.

"I'm sure he will be a great addition to the team and I'm sure the players will learn a lot from him," Palami added. "He will be working together with our coach, Scott Cooper. That's one of the moves that we have made to allow us to do better in this edition of the Suzuki Cup."

The Philippines, ranked 116th in the world by FIFA, have yet to win the Suzuki Cup, Southeast Asia's biennial tournament that features 10 teams from the region. The Azkals, as the team are known, have been grouped with Singapore, Indonesia, Timor Leste and Thailand.

The next challenge for Eriksson, who was recently linked with Iraq and Cameroon, is a first-ever appearance in the Asian Cup which takes place in the United Arab Emirates. The Philippines will take on China, South Korea and Kyrgyzstan.

The move to the Philippines will not be the first time that Eriksson, who led Lazio to the Serie A title in 2000, has worked in Asia.

After leaving the England job in 2006 to work with Manchester City, Mexico, Ivory Coast and Leicester, Eriksson headed to China in 2013. There he coached Guangzhou R&F, Shanghai SIPG and, most recently, Shenzhen FC, leaving the second-tier club in June 2017.

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