Nine Negros Occidental-born players made the initial cut in the try-outs for the national football team that will see action in the Asian Challenge Cup in May in Iloilo City.

National coach Norman Fegidero Jr. said local players Robert Cañedo, Joel Ballo-Allo, Lemuel Unabia, Arnie Pasinabo and Floriano Pasilan Jr. were included in the 26-man roster and will enter training camp in Iloilo beginning March 24.

Fegidero said former University of St. La Salle goalkeeper Archie Bayquin is also invited to the training camp, although he was unable to join the initial training sessions at the Ultra last week.

Bayquin will jockey for a spot in the team against fellow Negrense keepers Edmundo Mercado and Edward Sacapaño.

Alejandro Montelibano, a former La Salle player now in the Philippine Air Force, also made the grade, along with Iloilo-born West Negros University teenage standout Joven Bedic.

Cañedo, Ballo-Allo, Unabia and Sacapaño are also from WNU.

Pasinabo, who saw action for the country in the Asean Football Championships in Bangkok last year, and Pasilan are from USLS.

Among the prominent names in the team are national skipper Aly Borromeo, Emelio Caligdong and Ian Araneta.

Fegidero also said that London-based club Chelsea has agreed to release striker Phil Younghusband to the national team.

The 5-foot-11 Younghusband, who scored six goals in the Asean Football Championship Qualifiers in Bacolod City two years ago, is under contract with Chelsea, where he plays for its reserves team, and may arrive in the country in late April just a few weeks before the May 13-18 tournament.

Fegidero is also expecting veteran rightback Anton Del Rosario, who is based in the United States, to join the training camp.*CPT

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