Filipino-German forward Gerrit Holtmann is looking forward to finally playing in front of a home crowd when the Philippine men's national football team takes on Tajikistan in an AFC Asian Cup qualifying match on Tuesday.

Holtmann, 30, made his debut for the Philippines in 2022 but has only played in away games.

That will change on Tuesday as he is expected to lead the frontline for the Philippines against Tajikistan at the New Clark City Stadium.

"This is my first time now to play again in the Philippines. I am not nervous. I am really proud to play a game here. This is my first game and I hope we are successful, and win this important game," said the VfL Bochum veteran.

READ: PH names squad for crucial Asian Cup qualifier vs. Tajikistan

Holtmann had a memorable debut for the Philippines, scoring the winner against Mongolia in a qualifier for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup held in Ulaanbaatar. 

He also played in the King's Cup in Thailand in 2024, incidentally scoring against Tajikistan in a 3-0 win for the Philippines.

However, he missed out on the 2024 ASEAN Championship before being called up anew for the latest qualifying window.

"It's really special because I play only in the away games and start with Mongolia, then in October in Thailand, then Hong Kong, and only in training session in November," said Holtmann. "And now I can play a regular game and also an important game."

"I [will] give 100% that we are successful for tomorrow," he added.

The Philippines is looking to build on their 4-1 romp of Maldives from last March in another Group A match. However, they are wary of Tajikistan, which made it to the quarterfinals of the 2023 edition of the Asian Cup. 

READ: Albert Capellas steps down as coach of PH men's national team

"We know that we are going to play against a very competitive team," said interim coach Carles Cuadrat, who will be in charge of his first match after the shock departure of Albert Capellas just last May 31. 

"They have been in the last AFC Cup and they have been reaching the quarter finals so it was the same group of players. So they have been playing [for] quite a long [time] together and they know the system," he added. "They are very competitive players."

"But at the same time we are also working for the last months in the same kind of style, the same kind of players. So we have our hopes to try to be competitive and try to get a good result tomorrow."

Kick off is at 7:00 p.m.