The Philippine men's nations football team, also known as the Azkals, have accepted an invitation to play a friendly against Azerbaijan, with the game set for March 5 in Dubai.

The match will be the first time the Philippines will play against a European squad, since a 1-0 loss to Estonia in a friendly back in 1997.

In the press release announcing the game, PFF President Mariano Araneta said, "We cannot let pass the invitation of Azerbaijan to a friendly match. It will be a good exposure for our national team, and would help our preparations for the  AFC Challenge Cup Maldives finals in May 2014."

As of writing, Azerbaijan is at 94th place in the FIFA rankings, while the Philippines is 127th.

It will be the second friendly of the year for the Azkals, after earlier agreeing to a March 1 encounter against Malaysia, 154th in the global rankings.

ANN.Az