Filipinas bank on experience

Experience will be the national women’s football team’s biggest edge when it competes in various international tournaments ahead.

Filipinas coach Mark Torcaso said despite their limited training time in camps and actual tournaments, he remains confident that they will be able to make an impact in the international stage due to their experience and cohesion.

The Filipinas are set to compete in the CFA International Women’s Football Tournament in China as well as the ASEAN Women’s Championship in Indonesia and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers before capping the year with an appearance in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.

Torcaso said overseas-based players like Angie Beard are expected to hit the ground running as soon as they start their training camp.

“Angie (Beard) spent a lot of time in Sweden in the last six to 12 months. You can see the professionalism she brings into the environment and that’s extremely important for us,” Torcaso said during their open match last Tuesday at the brand-new Mall of Asia football pitch in Pasay City.

He said the fact that some Filipinas are playing in competitive leagues around the world will be a major boost to their personal skills and growth as players.

In fact, Sarina Bolden, who scored the country’s first FIFA Women’s World Cup goal in 2023, plays for FC Como in the Serie A Femminile in Italy while Beard suits up for AIK in the Damallsvenskan in Sweden, and Sara Eggesvik plays for Western United in the A-League Women in Australia.

New addition Emma Tovar is currently signed with CF Valencia in Liga F in Spain, where she faces the likes of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

“The great thing is that a lot of our players are playing in good leagues right now and that’s going to improve them for us. That’s the most important thing for me,” he said.

“They’re playing in good leagues and they’re going to be ready for us when we need to call upon them.”

He added that they are keeping tabs of their players despite not seeing them in training and tournaments on a regular basis.

“Listen, we’ve done a lot of reviews throughout the week on the players,” Torcaso said.

“I thought the best thing for us was to do that with players that we could be looking at for the future of our national team. Hence why we went with 32 to 33 players.”