Manila: The Philippine women’s national football team, the newly crowned Southeast Asian (SEA) Games champion, is setting its sights on the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup set for March next year in Australia. The Asian Cup serves as a pathway to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
According to Philippines News Agency, coach Mark Torcaso emphasized the importance of celebrating the recent victory while also preparing for future challenges. “We’ll enjoy this one, we have to enjoy this one because it’s been a long time coming for this country to win the SEA Games. We’ll rest a little bit and then we have to get ready for the Asian Cup,” Torcaso said in a news release Friday.
The Filipinas made history after a stunning 6-5 victory over eight-time champion Vietnam. Torcaso expressed optimism for the team’s performance in their upcoming tournament. “We saw how disciplined our girls can be against good teams and I truly believe that we can do that against Australia or South Korea and Iran and I truly believe that we can do something special there as well and go to another World Cup,” he added.
The Philippines needs to finish in the Top 2 against host Australia, South Korea, and Iran in Group A to reach the quarterfinal round. The four winners will advance to the World Cup, while the four losers will contest two other spots in the play-in matches.
Torcaso highlighted the team’s readiness and determination, stating, “The most pleasing thing for me in this competition (SEA Games) was we showed that we’ve got a group of players here, both experienced and young players that are ready to fight for our country right from the start of the game to the end of the game, even penalty shootouts.”
