Tom Saintfiet has been named the new head coach of the Philippine men’s national football team and first on the agenda was to drop the ‘Azkals’ moniker and get a clean slate with a stack of younger rotation. 

The 50-year-old highly-coveted Belgian mentor recently stepped down at the helm from Gambia’s national team last month. 

Saintfiet’s appointment was announced by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) on Monday, Feb. 26, as he is set to replace Michael Weiss barely eight months since he reprised the role. 

In Weiss’ second tenure with the Pinoy booters, the squad wound up with a 2-0 loss against Vietnam before drawing level at 1-1 with Indonesia in back-to-back matches at home during the joint FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in November last year. 

“In the short term, we would like to create a team who believes still in that opportunity to be top two [in the group]. We are two points behind Vietnam. We need to steal points from Iraq,” Saintfiet said. 

"I have to see which players are available. We spoke in the last months with many players. Players who have played already and some players who will hopefully make their debut against Iraq. If everyone is onboard and believes in this project, I'm sure we will be ready to compete with the best in Asia and we will be there in 2027 for the (AFC) Asian Cup."

Coming in with a wealth of managerial and coaching experience most recently in African countries starting with Namibia, Zimbabawe, Ethiopia, Malawi and Togo before his six-year stint in Gambia ended, Saintfiet already has his eyes on younger group of players who will take on another grueling rebuilding transition. 

“Together we have to develop players who can play for the country.. but let me say, our target is the younger players in the coming selection for Iraq. There, you may see one or two players who are in the age of over 30. But the majority of players, we would like to aim for much younger than that,” said Saintfiet. 

As the Philippines move on to its newly appointed mentor, the federation is also stripping the team off its old, fittingly given ‘Azkals’ moniker and no longer wants to go by the nickname. 

The Pinoys, who have been underdogs since the early 2010s, want to assume a new identity and it starts with moving past from what it was previously deemed as. 

“We feel like while the Azkals name is great, it has served its purpose. We feel like we’re going to the next step of Philippine football. That [moniker] is something we’re not currently thinking about but will eventually come into play at some point, whether by us or by the fans,” PFF director of national teams Alfredo Gonzalez said. 

The Philippines will resume action in the joint tournament when it faces Iraq in March with its all new look.