Four years ago in Jordan, the Philippines women’s national team achieved its best ever finish at an AFC Women’s Asian Cup with a sixth placed finish.
Now with former Matildas head coach Alen Stajcic at the helm, the PFF appear to be doubling down on their efforts to raise the profile and standard of its women’s game, both locally and on the global stage.
Lifting the trophy at India 2022 might be a step too far for the side modestly ranked 64th in the FIFA rankings. However, qualification to a first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup remains a tantalizing prize given the significant implications such an achievement would have on the development of the sport in a country where football trails behind volleyball and basketball in the popularity contest.
Quinley Quezada and Sarina Bolden are key attacking components of this Philippines side and both play club football at professional level in the Japanese WE League. Taking time out from their current Los Angeles training camp, the duo spoke with The Asian Game to share their thoughts and expectations ahead of India 2022.
Quinley and Sarina, thank you both for taking the time to speak with us amidst a busy training schedule. Right off the bat, how is the mood around the training camp?
SB: “It’s been really good so far. The last time Quinley and I were together with the girls was back in 2019 and it’s been great seeing everyone again. I’m feeling a lot of nostalgia for the amazing experience we had last time around and I’m ready to do it all over again in India.”
QQ: “Absolutely. As we are both based in Japan, we arrived a little later than everyone else. I was texting some of the girls and asking: ‘hey how’s the new coaching staff?’ and the response was really positive. Then for us to come in to such a positive environment has been really motivating and has us fired up for the games ahead.”
Alen Stajcic brings a wealth of experience having reached back-to-back Women’s Asian Cup finals with Australia in 2014 and 2018. How would you describe his coaching style and what have been the focus points of his training exercises so far?
SB: “Not only Coach Alen, but the whole coaching team has been great and we are learning a lot. His coaching style is very simplistic and it is easy to understand what he wants from us. When he asks certain things of us there is no confusion and the instructions are straight to the point. As a team we are picking up on things very quickly and are feeling well prepared for the tournament.”
QQ: “Our new coaching team has come in and given us a solid foundation and structure to work within. On top of that they allow and encourage us to be creative and add our own spin on how we play.”
SB: “His past experience with Australia provides us with another perspective. During training he’ll often refer to world class talent he’s worked with in the past, such as Sam Kerr, and mention some of things she’s done to raise her game in training. Naturally this is an ideal example for us to follow and raise our own game in doing so.”
The Philippines are placed in Group B with Australia, Indonesia and Thailand. How are you feeling about your group stage opposition?
QQ: “Honestly, I think it’s a pretty solid group for us. It’s a little similar to the group we drew last time around and again we have Thailand. We have a tough team in Australia and a team we have a good chance against in Indonesia. We definitely have a strong chance of getting 2nd or maybe 1st in the group standings.”
SB: “I totally agree. When I found out who we got in the draw I was like ‘oh yeah!’. I’m also pretty excited to play against Australia. It’d be amazing to get the win against them, but I feel a draw would be a pretty good result too. Against Indonesia and Thailand I think we have a great chance to get a strong finish in the standings.”
With the women’s game in the Philippines not as developed as it is in other Asian countries, what would World Cup qualification mean for the sport on a local level?
QQ: “It would be crazy! A first ever World Cup qualification would really help the growth and development of the sport locally in the Philippines. Right now we have some support, but not to the extent where we can create local leagues for little girls to play in or to have professional league like we do in the (United) States and Japan.”
SB: “I guess my hope is that by qualifying for the World Cup we can get the financial backing to establish a professional league and get more girls playing at a higher level in the Philippines. From there we can get a lot more homegrown talent into the national team system as well as pulling talent from all over the world such as the US and Europe.”
We thank you both kindly for your input and wish you every bit of success at India 2022!
The Philippines start their campaign on 21 January against Thailand at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Photo: IG/quinleyquezada
Listen to our bumper preview of the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup on Episode 76 of The Asian Game podcast
