Sven-Goran Eriksson has backed his Philippines side to cause South Korea trouble in their Group C clash at the 2019 Asian Cup on Monday.
The Philippines are making their debut at the tournament and on paper face a tough task against a side who have twice won the title twice and were runners-up four years ago to Australia.
Korea also played at the World Cup in Russia last summer, and even though they were knocked out in the group stages were still able to defeat defending champions Germany in their final game.
But Eriksson, who took over as Philippines manager on a six-month deal in October, is confident that his players will not be overawed by the occasion and will give a good account of themselves at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai.
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"We worked a lot on the plays and I’m sure of one thing, they are going out tomorrow, the players – the 11 starting and the eventual players coming on – they are going give Korea a fight," the former England manager said at a news conference on Sunday.
Eriksson said before the tournament that his hope from the Philippines competing against the best sides on the continent was to increase interest in the national side, and football in general, within the Filipino population.
"Korea is a big team that’s for sure, but Philippines is a big team as well, it’s a big country. You will see tomorrow," Eriksson added.
Midfielder Stephen Schrock echoed his manager's view that he and his teammates were aware they are underdogs but could use results such as Jordan's shock win over defending champions Australia on Sunday as motivation to cause an upset.
"It would be a tough game for us, but we have been in football for very long and there are surprises everywhere, and we’re willing to give everyone a headache in this group for sure."
Korea, who last failed to make it out of the group stages of an Asian Cup in 1984, will be without Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min for the match.
The forward is not joining the squad until after Sunday's Premier League clash between Tottenham and Manchester United, which means he will also miss his national side's second Group C match against Kyrgyzstan in Al Ain at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.
Monday's other Group C match sees China go up against Kyrgyzstan at the Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.
Also in action is the first game in Group D, which sees Iran go up against Yemen at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
