THE Philippine women’s football team, now officially going by the moniker “Filipinas,” has set up a training camp in Australia to bolster its preparations for next month’s Southeast Asian Games (SEAG).
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Women’s World Cup-bound Filipinas, who reached an all-time high of 54th in the latest FIFA world rankings last week, are also scheduled to play Fiji in a pair of international friendlies on April 7 and 11 while encamped in Sydney, where coach Alen Stajcic is based.
The Pinay booters’ Australia camp will run until early May before they embark on the hunt for a breakthrough gold in the SEA Games in Vietnam.
“It is crucial that the team gets as much time as possible to prepare,” said team manager Jefferson Cheng. “We hope that the work put in on this camp will bring great results in the upcoming tournaments.”
Aside from the SEAG, the Filipinas are set to see action in two other major meets this year — the AFF Women’s Championship at home in July and the Asian Games in China in September.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Football Federation announced that the women’s squad will exclusively use “Filipinas” to identify itself moving forward. In the process, it is dropping the old “Malditas” moniker, which it felt had a “negative connotation” in large parts of the world.
“It (Filipinas) is simple and nationalistic. Our athletes are Filipinas. They are strong-willed, determined, passionate and driven by the goal to represent not just themselves but the country,” said Mr. Cheng. — Olmin Leyba