Justin Baas as he appears at his first training with Ratchaburi Mitr Phol (Photo from Ratchaburi Mitr Phol's official Facebook Account) |
By Drew Malihan
MANILA -- Another Azkal will start his Asian club football debut in Thailand as Filipino-Dutch defender Justin Baas is signed by Thai League 1 club Ratchaburi Mitr Phol, the club and league announced on Tuesday.
Ratchaburi Mitr Phol FC sign 🇵🇭@TheAzkalsPH defender Justin Baas from 🇳🇱 Jong AZ#ThaiLeagueIsBack #ศึกชิงบัลลังก์ไทยลีก #ToyotaThaileague #ThaiLeague #ไทยลีก #ฟุตบอลไทย #บอลไทย pic.twitter.com/gBfSmJlHAX— ThaiLeague (@thaileague) September 1, 2020
The 20-year old who last played for the youth team of AZ Aklmaar, Jong AZ, was signed for a three-year contract, as he was a free agent since July 1 after his contract with Jong AZ expired. He appeared five times for the Dutch side in the Eerste Divisie, the second-tier of the Dutch football league pyramid.
He now joins 12 other Filipino footballers in Thai League 1 along with his now-teammates Javier Patino and Luke Woodland as the club's ASEAN reinforcements.
Baas has been in the regular Azkals lineup since being called for national duty in August last year, debuting for the senior team on Sept. 19 in a 4-1 away win over Guam, and made all four appearances for the U-22 team in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, bagging a goal.
Baas will look to debut on Sept. 12 against Michael Falkesgaard and the league-leading Bangkok United, with a win putting them on top of the table.
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