Philippine women's national football team Mark Torcaso praised the hard work and effort put in by his wards in a couple of friendly games against South Korean booters in Incheon.

Despite not getting the result the team wanted, the mentor liked what he saw in the progress of the Filipinas.

The World No. 39 Philippine squad gave the South Korea national team a hard time before falling short in the end, 1-2, last Monday.

Torcaso commended the fight shown by his wards sans veterans Sarina Bolden, Jacklyn Sawiki and Meryll Serrano due to their commitments to their respective clubs in Australia.

"The way the players responded to those few minutes of the game was excellent. Even if they went 2-0 down, they still fought hard and gave us chance to win the game," Torcaso said."

"I couldn't have been prouder of these players and unfortunately, we didn't get the result. We fought hard to the end and we're very happy."

The Filipinas also lost to the Koreans, 0-3, in their first meeting last Friday.

Torcaso also added that having talented youth players get an early start in the senior team will work wonders for them especially for international tournaments such as the Asian Football Confederation Women's Asian Cup.

Nina Mathelus, Aiselyn Sia, Alexa Pino and Gabrielle Baker were given call-ups for the seniors' squad.

"We wanted to slightly bridge the gap between our national team and the top teams in Asia. Our goal is to come here and give some players an opportunity to play at the top level against top teams but also to build as a country and a nation," Torcaso said.

"I would constantly try to build our team and make it stronger with the opportunity of our young players seeing the team and getting the experience."