The Philippine women’s national football team will be aiming for a strong showing in front of their home crowd when they face Uzbekistan.
The Filipinas are deep into their preparation for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games with an upcoming friendly against Uzbekistan at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on Wednesday night.
In just their second official match at home since the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Filipinas brace for stiff competition and redemption in front of Filipino fans.
Having lost their last match at home against Chinese Taipei earlier this year, the Filipinas will be hard-pressed to reverse their fortunes against Uzbekistan, who are unbeaten in their last six matches.
“We respect Uzbekistan highly. We've got a fantastic relationship with the federation and we respect them as a country, we respect them in football as well and we got to experience a game or two against them and I got to personally experience that when we played in the Asian Cup qualifiers for Futsal and got to know the coaches and got to know some of the people there and that was a fantastic experience for me,” Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso said in a brief press conference in Pasay on Tuesday.
“But the team as such, a very strong physical team, we believe that they are growing and they're getting better and better and we need to be 100% focused,” he added.
Torcaso will be having a formidable arsenal on his hands once kickoff ensues on Wednesday, with the Filipinas roster boasting the likes of World Cup veterans Angie Beard, Katrina Guillou, Meryll Serrano, Jaclyn Sawicki, Hali Long, Sara Eggesvik, Chandler and Olivia McDaniel, and Jessika Cowart.
With their sights set on a podium finish in the SEA Games, and their looming tournament in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup early next year, Torcaso believes there is much to gain apart from just giving the hometown fans a show.
“That's why it was a really easy decision to accept this invitation to work with Uzbekistan because we're both on a similar path in regard to the Asian Cup,” Torcaso said.
“We're both there and we both want to be competitive and we want to be strong in that campaign. So it worked perfectly to work with them, this FIFA window and we expect a really, really tough opponent, a physical opponent.”
Opportunity for growth
As far as Angie Beard is concerned, there is a lot of potential for the team in their one-game friendly against the Uzbeks.
With their eyes set on the bigger picture, she believes that going up against a streaking team like Uzbekistan will be key to fine tuning their skills, and playing style with important tournaments coming up in the next few months.
“I think Uzbekistan is a great opportunity to explore that and implement the playing style that we want to see, whether it's SEA Games, whether it's Asian Cups and further on from that as well, hopefully,” she said.
The Filipinas kick off against Uzbekistan at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.