The team will also face world no. 3 Sweden in a tune-up game.
Alen Stajcic brought good news ahead of Filipinas’ FIFA Women’s World Cup debut less than two weeks from now.
Stajcic said the team is almost at the level it needs to be to compete in football’s grandest stage, which will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
“The whole point of the cycle of a World Cup is to be at your peak at the World Cup and I would say that we are at that point now and where we are close to that peak and we have 10 more days to try and reach that peak for July 21,” the coach said in a statement.
To reach that peak, the Filipinas will take on Sweden in an unofficial closed training match in Wellington, New Zealand, three days before the World Cup opener. It’s going to be an acid test for the national team as the Swedes are no. 3 in the world rankings.
“It’s really exciting to be in the final period in our preparations. We have a friendly match in New Zealand that I’m focusing on and all the details that goes into each game is really important,” said Stajcic, whose team is ranked 46th.
Confident the team will be at full strength in 10 days, Stajcic admitted he is more focused on that than their July 21 World Cup debut against Switzerland.
“At the moment, I’m not really focusing on Switzerland, but focusing on how we are as a group, focusing on day to day training, traveling, arriving fit and healthy, and ensuring that everyone is healthy for our training session,” he said.
“And making sure that the time we have are used to fine tune the aspects of our games so by the time we play our first game, we’ll be in our best form.”
On Monday, the Philippines’ official 23-woman lineup headlined by team captain Tahnai Annis, Hali Long, and Sarina Bolden was released.
(GM)