Filipinas brace for Peruvians

Physicality and adapting to local conditions will be the main challenges for the Philippine national women’s football team when it faces Peru in a pair of friendlies on 9 and 13 October in the city of Chincha.

Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso said the trip will serve as another important step in the team’s preparations for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

The Filipinas are coming off a quarterfinal appearance at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, where they bowed to eventual champions and hosts Japan, 0-4.

“Once we land after a 25- to 32-hour flight, we have to travel another two hours to get to the venue. These are all the complications and issues that you have when going to a World Cup as well,” Torcaso said.

“You have to deal with that, and this is part of the experience of preparing our girls for that opportunity.”

The squad is scheduled to fly to Peru on Sunday as it continues to build toward next year’s World Cup.

Torcaso said Peru’s playing style and the conditions surrounding the matches will provide the Filipinas with a useful simulation of what they could encounter in Brazil.

“As I said, I think Peru is a team that obviously isn’t as good as Brazil, but they play with a similar mentality and style to Brazil. That’s where we’re at right now in terms of who we need to play,” Torcaso said.

“We need to work on playing a team that is potentially a very good South American team so we can work on ourselves and what we want to do.”

The Filipinas will also use the matches to sharpen their attacking game without losing focus on their defensive structure.

“In these next couple of games, we’ll see the way we want to try to attack a little bit as well, while still focusing on our defensive game. Peru provides us with a fantastic opportunity, as well as the elevation,” Torcaso said.

The trip will also give Torcaso an opportunity to assess players outside his established core, with veterans Angie Beard, Sara Eggesvik and Meryll Serrano unavailable for the Peru friendlies. Sofia Wunsch is also sidelined by injury.

Torcaso said the absences could open the door for younger players to make their case for a spot on the final World Cup roster.

“We have a few new, exciting players to hopefully push for a spot on the World Cup roster. Kellie Pagador is a fresh face that will excite, and we are looking forward to seeing a few others,” Torcaso said.

“We want to continue to challenge ourselves against well-organized and well-structured teams. We are working on specific things and want to continue to get better at these this coming window.”