MANILA — Thomas Dooley has bad memories of the 1998 World Cup. He was a player with the United States back then, when the team lost all three of its games in France. After the tournament, FIFA ranked the 32 participants; it put the Americans last.

“We had no team spirit, no positive team energy — nothing,” Dooley said. “After the coach announced the roster, we got the bonus and then there was just selfishness. The players didn’t listen anymore. They were against each other. The coach lived in a different hotel. Everything was negative. I didn’t want to be a part of it, and I wanted to go home.”

Dooley has little time to follow U.S. Soccer’s activities these days, not even the departure of Jurgen Klinsmann, who briefly brought Dooley back into the national team fold in 2011 to help him coach his first match, a friendly against Mexico. Dooley has his own leadership concerns now: As head coach of the Philippines national team, he is busy trying to prevent another first-round exit.

The event in question is the Suzuki Cup, Southeast Asia’s biennial championship and a big deal — especially as no team from the region has been to the World Cup since 1938, when Indonesia participated as the Dutch East Indies. With 2 points from its first two games, against Singapore and Indonesia, the Philippines has to defeat Thailand, the defending champion, on Friday to be assured of a place in the semifinals.