The Filipinas open hostilities in the regional meet tomorrow.
Filipinas have been on the rise as of late, and they aim to continue doing so.
That mission resumes on Wednesday, when they open their Southeast Asian Games (SEA) campaign against Myanmar in Cambodia.
If their previous encounter in the SEA Games is any indication, the Filipinas are likely to emerge victorious anew.
When these two teams met last year in the battle for the bronze medal in Hanoi, Vietnam, the Filipino contingent escaped with a 2-1 victory on Quinley Quezada’s winner.
Can the Filipinos pull through anew opposite the 47th-ranked nation? It is tough to say.
But with the Philippines steadily getting better tournament after tournament, coach Alen Stajcic couldn't wait for his wards to hop on the pitch and show how much they have improved.
“We’re improving all the time in trying to catch up with countries like Vietnam and Thailand. You know how tough that is in this part of the world. But we’re here now and we’re really looking forward to the tournament,” said Stajcic, whose team is coming off the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament where they turned heads with three victories.
According to Stajcic, the world no. 49 Filipinas are out to show they have closed the gap as they also gear up for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in July.
“We’re just growing at the moment and we know we have a long way to go to catch up. Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar have been strong for a long time. We respect that they have better history,” he said.
“Hopefully this tournament will show that we’ve closed the gap even more. Over time we want to keep progressing not just in Southeast Asia and Asia but also in the world.”
(MDB)