Filipinas U17 squad eyes World Cup spot

The Philippine U17 women’s national football team is pulling out all the stops to make sure it makes an impact in the 2024 AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup in Bali from 6 to 19 May.

Filipinas U17 head coach Sinisa Cohadzic said during their open training at the Vermosa Sports Hub in Cavite yesterday that everyone is ready for the Asian tilt as they aim for one of the top three spots that will send them to the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in October in Dominican Republic.

The team flew to Indonesia yesterday to get ready for the Women’s Asian Cup after conducting a training camp in the United States last March.

“One thing that this team has is passion and that is something they will never die wondering what’s going to happen and that’s what we’re going to rely on,” Cohadzic said.

We’re going there to compete and we will be facing tough competition.

“The tournament has a lot of factors that’s going to happen but we’re very confident that we got this group of players ready and we’re very confident that they have the best support and resources that we gave them to achieve that objective.”

As the Filipinas U17 squad faces host Indonesia, North Korea and South Korea in Group A, team manager Jefferson Cheng echoed Cohadzic’s sentiments as he expects the squad to give their all in the tournament.

“We’re going there to compete and we will be facing tough competition. What we have done is prepare the girls as much as we can to make the country proud,” Cheng told DAILYTRIBUNE.

U17 players Nina Mathelus, Aiselyn Sia, Alexa Pino and Gabrielle Baker were also selected for the senior squad during the Filipinas’ friendly matches against South Korea last 5 and 8 April.

The Filipinas U17 team defeated reigning PFF Women’s League champion Kaya FC-Iloilo 1-0 last week in a tune up match that featured Filipinas defender Hali Long and goalkeeper Inna Palacios.

Filipinas captain Tahnai Annis was also tapped to be part of the coaching staff to help guide the up-and-coming players for the Asian Cup.