PHILIPPINE Football Federation national teams director Freddy Gonzalez has set three lofty goals for the Filipinas this year, which could also decide the fate of Australian coach Marc Torcaso and the rest of the coaching staff.
“Qualifying for the Women’s Asian Cup, winning back-to-back AFF Women’s Championship titles, and bagging the gold medal in the Thailand Southeast Asian Games,” Gonzalez said last week during the intrasquad match of the Filipinas that ended in a 1-all draw at the newly-opened SM Mall of Asia Sky field in Pasay City.
“Not qualifying for the Women’s Asian Cup is not an option, for that is how we got to make it to the FIFA Women’s World Cup,” noted Gonzalez of the Filipinas’ historic debut in the quadrennial global women’s showcase in New Zealand in 2023.
The draw for the Women’s Asian Cup is set for March 27 at the Asian Football Confederation headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, where the seedings will be based on the current FIFA women’s world rankings.
The Nationals reached the 2023 Women’s World Cup after setting a Philippine sports milestone by reaching the semifinals of the Women’s Asian Cup in early 2022 under Australian tactician Alen Stajcic, who yielded the coaching reins to his fellow Aussie after the stint Down Under.
“We also want to win the AFF Women’s Championship again, and we see no reason why we can’t do it again, plus getting the gold in the SEA Games in Thailand after our disappointing performance in Cambodia when we didn’t even get into the medal rounds (in 2023),” Gonzalez pointed out.
With Stajcic calling the shots in July 2022, the Filipinas bagged the country’s first major international football trophy – the AFF Women’s Championship, capped by an empathic 3-0 victory over fancied four-time champion Thailand at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Filipinas entered the 32nd edition of the regional meet two years ago, having captured their second bronze medal after beating Myanmar 3-1 in the battle for third place in the 2021 Vietnam SEA Games.
“There’s no reason why we can’t win the gold in the SEA Games. Not accomplishing any of these (goals) would be failure on my part,” Gonzalez stressed.
He said this explains why Torcaso, who first handled the Filipinas in the 2023 19th Hangzhou Asian Games, and his staff would be under close scrutiny in these competitions, adding, “The honeymoon period is over.”
To be fair, however, he said they are recruiting “a lot of athletic, fast and explosive new players” to boost the PH women’s squad’s roster.
“You are gonna see a lot of athletic, fast and explosive new players to fit the style that we do. We need a lot more technical players. The technical ability, we’re lifting that up. The former players have that ability. But just like the men’s team, we need a little bit of injection of youth in there,” he said.
Some of them already made their debut last week, such as defender Jaime Turrentine, 30, and striker Emma Tovar, 21, who played for the Blue side and are currently competing for club teams in Portugal and Spain, respectively.
Among those who were unable to attend the weeklong training camp preceding the exhibition match were injured Fil-Brit defender Maz Pacheco, 26, who plays for English Women’s First Division club Aston Villa, and Fil-Am fullback Madison Ayson, 24, who suits up for Canberra United FC.
“We are trying to get back to the top of the mountain and stay there. We need to cement our place here in the (Asian) region,” Gonzalez said.
