Capellas dares Filipino booters to step up

Newly-appointed Philippine men’s national football team head coach Albert Capellas is determined to ramp up the level of play of Filipino players so they an eventually be recruited to play overseas.

Capellas, a former assistant coach in FC Barcelona B in Spain and Borussia Dortmund in Germany, said he wants the players to not only improve for the national team but also help them out in how to be better as a professional player.

The 56-year-old mentor was announced last Monday as the replacement for interim head coach Norman Fegidero Jr.

“We want to achieve a new way of playing, a new way of training and I want to help them to understand better what it means to be a professional. We want to help Filipino players who have the chance to play abroad, that they can find better teams, that they can be better prepared to be scouted and have better football careers,” Capellas said.

“Our vision is built on three values. Honesty, that everything we do in the national team, we can look each other in the eyes all the time then it’s about commitment.”

“Nobody can stay in the national team without commitment to achieve the goals we are looking for. Finally, there is courage, to fight for the aims we want to achieve.”

Capellas’ first test as the new head coach of the national team will be the upcoming ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup, which kicks off on 8 December.

The Philippines last made it out of the group stages of the competition was back in 2018 when it made it as far as the semifinal before losing to Vietnam in two legs.

Luckily for Capellas, the Nationals will be participating in the King’s Cup in Thailand from 7 to 15 October to test out the national team.

Apart from the Thais, the Philippines will be going up against world No. 93 Syria and Tajikistan, which took the bronze medal over the nationals on penalties, 4-3, in the Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday.

Capellas wants to instill a winning mentality on the Nationals despite being one of the underdogs in the region.

“I’m the type of coach that never loses before the game. I always think that I can win the next game and that is what I will try to convey to the players, that maybe after the game, maybe we will lose, but never before,” Capellas said.

“It won’t be easy — nothing in football is — but we can promise that we will do our best. I hope they (the fans) will enjoy the way we want to play, and the way we want to perform.”