MANILA, Philippines — With almost a month left before the start of the AFC Challenge Cup in Katmandu, Nepal, the Philippine Azkals hope to make up for lost time as they gear up for next week's training camp in Dubai.

Both Azkals team manager Dan Palami and coach Michael Weiss have admitted that they have very little time left to prepare for the tournament due to injuries to some key players, but they still expressed confidence of a decent showing.

“The target is to reach the semis. Our dream is to become champions of the Challenge Cup,” Palami said during Thursday night's formal launching of Turf BGC, the first artificial football pitch that was constructed in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

“But realistically, with the preparation that we have, I don't think we are in a position to dream too much but we will do what we can, especially in that camp and hopefully the cramming will give us even good results.”

“We have limited time to prepare but the players have been training with their clubs and I hope the camp in Dubai will help us get better,” Weiss said during the same event.

The Azkals are slated to face the U-23 teams of Uzbekistan and Australia aside from facing Al Ahli Sports Club, one of the top clubs in Qatar.

Palami and Weiss also said that Chieffy Caligdong will be ready for the Challenge Cup despite injuring his left knee during last week's United Football League match between Philippine Air Force and Philippine Army.

Caligdong, who plays for Air Force, underwent another test at presstime but Palami suggested that the charismatic winger will be out at least two weeks.

“I'm very much optimistic,” said Palami. “I talked to the doctor and said that it will take two weeks for him to heal from the time he got himself injured. We always worry about our players but in this case, we hope it will not deteriorate further.”