Stephan Schrock and Misagh Bahadoran are optimistic that football 7-a-side would gain popularity in the country the way the 11-a-side did during their time with the Philippine Azkals in the 2000s.

Schrock and Bahadoran, co-captains of the revived Azkals crew, said the team’s runner-up finish in the recent Asia 7s Championship in Malaysia is a testament that the Filipinos got enough raw talent to make it to the higher and more competitive international events.

“It shows in this tournament that the Philippines is not far behind when it comes to talent,” said Bahadoran moments after the Azkals yielded to powerhouse Japan, 2-1, in the finals.

The Azkals, a mix of young and senior players like Bahadoran, Schrock and Mark Hartmann, were actually freshly formed for the tournament. The Asia 7s Championship is actually their first competition as a squad.

“The Japan team was actually surprised at how we played, and they hoped to see us in more tournaments in the future,” said Bahadoran, adding that the Japan crew came from a wide selection of players from its regular 7s league.

Bahadoran also said the 7-a-side, which is played by seven players from each team in a smaller pitch, gives bigger opportunities not only for young and aspiring booters, but for veterans who still wanted to continue playing football in general.

Schrock echoed the sentiment, hoping that they could build more to this tournament performance in the months and years to come the way they did in the past with the national men’s football team.

“(The moniker) Azkals is hand-in-hand with Philippine football. You can’t deny that. You cannot take that out and it’s good that it’s attached to something like the 7s where they’re trying to build from scratch,” said Schrock, a retired national team member.

“I think when boss Dan (Palami) took over (PH) football, it was also more scratch work and building on a solid foundation and that’s what we’re doing right now. We’re very grateful and blessed that we are part of this one,” he added.

“If Philippines will have more practice and play more 7s leagues, I promise you, definitely we will be champions within one to two years in Southeast Asia. We can even go to 7s World Cup. There’s a really big chance,” Bahadoran said.