The Philippines remains upbeat about its chances of retaining then ASEAN Women’s Championships which gets going Thursday in Vietnam.

Head coach Mark Torcaso said the Filipinas won’t be intimidated against other teams as they look to continue to build on their success from the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers last June.

The Philippines will put its title-retention bid in motion against Timor Leste at the Viet Tri Stadium in Phu Tho at 7 p.m.

“I’m not too fussed about that type of pressure. Obviously, we want to go there and win, but we’re using this tournament as a chance to see where our players are at, particularly, our depth,” Torcaso said during the send-off ceremony over the weekend in Makati City.

“So, the pressure’s not on us. We’re going to go there and just enjoy ourselves and just be the best that we can and make sure that our players are exposed to the national team.”

“As defending champions, we’re here to win, and do the best we can for the country and our fans. We believe in the depth of our squad and we’re ready to showcase it.”

Veteran strikers Sarina Bolden and Katrina Guillou won’t make the trip to Vietnam due to injuries while Sara Eggesvik and Meryll Serrano didn’t make the cut due to commitments with their clubs.

With that in mind, the Filipinas will lean on the 2023 FIFA World Cup core in team captain Hali Long, Inna Palacios, Olivia McDaniel, Kaya Hawkinson, Malea Cesar and Quinley Quezada.

Completing the squad are veterans Chandler McDaniel and Bella Pasion, Janae Defazio, Charisa Lemoran and Dionesa Tolentin as well as newcomers Isabella Alamo, Lyka Cuenco, Jaycee Defazio, Azumi Oka, Aaliyah Schinaman, Tea Pidding and Adelaide Wyrzynski.

Torcaso believes they have a terrific mix of veterans and newcomers as they have a good chance to win back-to-back ASEA titles.

“We’re excited to bring a strong, youthful squad to this camp--a good blend of our experienced players but also a number of U17 and U20 players to join us. While we have a few players unavailable, due to this not being a FIFA (International Football Federation) window, this opens up a great opportunity for our talented young players to step up,” Torcaso said.

The Philippines is using the ASEAN Women’s Championship as part of its preparation for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia next year.

There is also the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand this December as they aim for a podium finish.

More than just winning the ASEAN Women’s title, Torcaso believes in giving the entire roster a chance to be exposed in tough games.

“I’m not too worried about what the opponents are doing. We’re going to focus on our team and getting our players better and getting our players up to a level to play in the Asian Cup and give them every chance to be a part of the squad,” Torcaso said.

“This is an exciting opportunity for our young players to gain experience and compete at a high level. They’ve earned this chance, and we see it as a key part of our long-term plan for preparing for the 2026 Asian Cup.”

“As defending champions, we’re here to win, and do the best we can for the country and our fans. We believe in the depth of our squad and we’re ready to showcase it.”

Torcaso believes they have enough veterans to help the squad in the ASEAN Championship.

“They’re gonna share that for our young players and there’s no doubt that they’ll have open arms in talking to the young girls and I’m sure that our young girls will be very very accepting of the information. That’s gonna be a really good time to have our young girls working with our senior team players that have been to tournaments,” Torcaso said.