Philippine women’s national football team take the first step towards another appearance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Philippine women’s national football team are aiming for an undefeated run in Group G of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers set to begin in Phnom Penh in Cambodia on Sunday, facing Saudi Arabia in their opening game.
With only the winners of each group moving on to the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia next year, the Filipinas are not about to take any chances, even against lower-ranked teams in their group — especially with a chance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup looming in the final tournament.
Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso spoke optimistically of their chances at the moment, with the team already in deep preparation in Cambodia earlier this week.
“The sessions have been very good, very good intensity, the girls are very very focused on the plan ahead and that’s to come here and get three points in each of the games. We’ve had some challenges with the rain but it’s just stopped at the perfect time from when we’re about to start so it’s been really good,” Torcaso said.
“[We’re] enjoying our time here in Cambodia but really focused on getting three points in each of the games to make sure that we qualify,” he added.
Despite missing top striker Sarina Bolden in their current lineup due to injury, Torcaso has a wide arsenal of players led by returning midfielder Quinley Quezada and Meryll Serrano. World Cup veterans like Sara Eggesvik, Jaclyn Sawicki, Angie Beard, Hali Long, Chandler McDaniel, and goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel have also made the trip to Cambodia.
Sofia Wunsch (Harrison), Janae Defazio, Jessika Cowart, Inna Palacios, Carleigh Frilles, and local-based players Dionesa Tolentin, and Charisa Lemoran are also seeing action.
Going up against different teams, Torcaso said that the team is keen on sticking to their system, which they’ve been in the process of perfecting in the last couple of months. While results remain their top priority, the Aussie coach is also eager to see his system in effect.
“Every opponent has got their own specialities, I guess, and their own qualities and for us it’s just going to be about what we do, we’ll do our absolute best to make sure that we implement a plan that’s come through across the last three, six months. But we’ll also do what we need to do to make sure that we get our result and that’s our focus,” said Torcaso.
“We’re here to qualify and we wanna make sure that we do the best that we can. But we wanna make sure we also implement the style that we focused on that will hold up these three games. So all three opponents will be different, but we’re determined to look after what we’ve done and play the way that we’ve been focusing on.”
The Filipinas kickoff against Saudi Arabia on Sunday afternoon, 5:00 p.m., Manila time at the National Sports Complex of Cambodia.