Not an ounce of pressure is weighing down on Michael Weiss as he formally got reinstated as the head coach of Philippine Azkals ahead of the joint preliminary round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup later in November.

The German coach will be calling the shots for the Azkals nine years after his first coaching stint with the Philippine team ended.

The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) re-introduced Weiss back to the system on a one-year contract agreement on Wednesday, June 8, at the PFF Office in Pasig City.

PFF general secretary Atty. Ed Gastanes, PFF president Nonong Araneta, PH Azkals head coach Michael Weiss, PH Azkals team manager Dan Palami.

“He had quite a successful stint here before and as Dan said he knows many of the players. Of course, we need to have a focus now after these friendlies because the combined Asian Cup and World Cup Qualifiers will start this year,” said PFF General Secretary Atty. Ed Gastanes.

Echoing Gastanes was PFF President Nonong Araneta who has tempered expectations for the veteran coach in handling the Nationals for the second time around.

“This is a big event for us [to be] re-introducing Michael Weiss as the head coach of the Philippine national men’s football team and as what Ed was saying earlier he had one of the most successful, if not the most successful stint as a coach in the Philippines after out of 45 games, we won 50% [under his watch],” said Araneta.

Weiss was at the touchline from 2011 through 2013, after which he wasn’t able to get his contract renewed at the end of that year.

During his tenure, the 58-year-old tactician brought the Azkals to a third-place finish in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup in 2012 and a semifinals appearance in the 2012 Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup.

Weiss will begin his second shot at the job when the Philippines faces Nepal on June 15 and Chinese-Taipei on June 19 in back-to-back friendly matches at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

With more friendlies in sight, the next FIFA window of September and October will only get more hectic for the Azkals who are looking to see themselves through their ultimate target of the November window.

“If we can make it to the World Cup which would be a dream, is it realistic or is it not? The next few months will show,” said Weiss.

Boasting a record of 21-11-12 of win-draw-loss record in his first stint, Weiss was certain that he’s not only made a strong case for himself in the past but he sees himself as a better tactician following nearly a decade of gained experiences elsewhere.

“I think it will be different because I’m a better coach now. I did a lot of research and study as far as tactically and coaches are concerned. I have a lot of experience in Asia. I know how to play each team. With Laos and particularly in Mongolia, I was the underdog. We had to obstruct the opponent in playing their style which did fantastically particularly with Mongolia,” said Weiss.