Phl booters far from done

The national men’s football team is far from satisfied despite picking up a bronze medal in the 50th King’s Cup late Monday at the Tinsulanon Stadium in Songkha, Thailand.

National team head coach Albert Capellas said their 3-0 win over Tajikistan is just the start of something good for Philippine football as they aim to regain glory in the international arena.

Against the Tajiks, Filipino booters displayed their fighting form in booking a podium finish, thanks to the second-half goals from Gerrit Holtman in the 47th minute, Jefferson Tabinas in the 58th minute, and Zico Bailey in the 62nd minute.

“We make another step forward in our way of playing, in our way of playing the games much more mature, and all the credit to the players, because we have been working together very few times, and it’s amazing how quickly they are picking up everything,” Capellas said.

“That means that they have a lot of talent, and I hope we can play like this in the next games.”

The victory was Capellas’s first as a national coach since taking over from interim coach Norman Fegidero Jr. last September.

It was also the first time for the Philippines to win an international match in more than a year since it won over Afghanistan in 2023, 2-1, at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

Capellas believes that they can do better, especially now that the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup is just around the corner.

He said they need to analyze and learn from the teams that will compete in this tournament to try and make an impact as they start their campaign on 12 December against Myanmar at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue.

The Philippines last made it to the semifinals of the Mitsubishi Electric Cup back in 2018 under the leadership of the late Sven-Göran Eriksson with the likes of Phil and James Younghusband, Stephan Schrock, and Neil Etheridge.

“Every opportunity we have to stay together, we analyze the games and I always try to be more efficient. There are always small details during the game that you have to control, not only technically or tactically, but also the momentum of the game,” Capellas said.

“I’m a coach that is always looking for the next game, I never look further, that means all the focus is our best preparation, the best analysis of the game, the small details to try to perform better the next game, that’s all, and let’s see after.”