(FEU’s Martini Rey & Karl Absalon in the center when their team won the UAAP Season 85 championship)

Ten UAAP student athletes got the call to join the national team’s training camp starting this Friday. These young guns are part of the 34 booters summoned by newly-minted head coach Tom Saintfiet, reported One Sports’ Paolo del Rosario.

Martini Rey, Marc Joseph Alipoon, Selwyn Mamon, Jermi Darapan and Season 85 Rookie of the Year Karl Absalon represent defending men’s football champion Far Eastern University (FEU).

They are joined by Leo Maquiling from last year’s runner Ateneo de Manila University, with Francis Tacardon, Marc Jessar Tobias, and Ramil Bation from the University of the Philippines.
Completing the UAAP cast is high school standout Pete Andre Forosuello of FEU Diliman.

The men’s national team, which recently dropped the “azkals” moniker, will face the Iraq team away on March 21 and back home on March 26 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

“Step by step we will construct the team with tactical philosophy,” Saintfet told media at a press conference last February 26, 2024. “You have a group of players who are skillful, who have speed. They have a lot of passion. Maybe they don’t have the height compared to Iraq. We will utilize the tactical approach to make the difference.”
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