Aston Villa defender beefs up Phl squad

Aston Villa defender Maz Pacheco banners the Philippine national women’s football team for the upcoming Pink Ladies Cup from 21 to 30 October in Turkey.

The 26-year-old Filipino-British footballer, who plays in the Women’s Super League in England, is among the 26 players announced for the squad last Saturday as it is one of the build-ups for future competitions such as the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso said he wants to expand the team for a new playstyle they have been working on.

“We want to keep expanding our pool of players and allow everyone every chance to play for our national team in the future. We have some fresh faces, some World Cup players return and also some youth,” Torcaso said.

“This is an exciting group and we are very much looking forward to Turkey. We will roll out our new playing style and begin to build for our Asian Cup qualification, as well as the AFF (ASEAN Women’s Championship) and SEA Games. This is a great chance for us to get our players back together after a long time away from each other.”

Also in the squad are FIFA Women’s World Cup veterans Olivia McDaniel, Hali Long, Sara Eggesvik, Angie Beard, Jessika Cowart, Sofia Harrison, Chandler McDaniel, Bella Flanigan, Quinley Quezada, Katrina Guillou and Sarina Bolden.

Joining the Filipinas as well are Inna Palacios, Nina Meollo, Rhea Chan, Janae Defazio, Anicka Castañeda, Judy Connoly, Kaya Hawkinson, Isabella Pasion, Jaclyn Sawicki, Alessandrea Carpio and Meryll Serrano.