Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 3) – Ambitions of making it past the group stage, inspiring young Filipinos, and a grueling training camp are what paved the Philippine Womens’ National Football Team’s road to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“We live by this one quote that our head coach Alen Stajcic always tells us – that we have to win the moment. And I know that personally, and I speak on behalf of the team, we really wanna try to get as far as we can so definitely wanna try to make it out of the group [stages],” goalkeeper Kiara Fontanilla said during the Summit #ThirstForGold press conference.
Fontanilla and the Filipinas, 46th in the FIFA world rankings, said they are looking forward to scoring their first goal in the tournament.
The Filipinas debut in the group stage of the ninth edition of the World Cup against Switzerland in Dunedin, New Zealand on July 21.
They will also face New Zealand on July 25, and Norway on July 30.
READ: Filipinas grouped with New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland in 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup
Coach Isabella Fernando Dela-Cruz said the ladies would carry the Filipino torch with pride in their first-ever run in the FIFA Women’s World Cup since the competition was founded in 1991.
“Tears will be pouring down for sure when we’re there and we see our families, our friends, our fans in the stands when we’re competing in New Zealand but just really grateful to be the ones carrying this torch and showing young girls, young Filipinos that they too can be there one day,” Dela-Cruz said.
While they hope to inspire young Filipino women, the ladies too have some of the youngest players among all of the World Cup teams.
Two of the team’s members, midfielder Isabella Pasion and goalkeeper Kaiya Jota, are only 16 and 17 years old.
Despite this, the coach said that the team’s youth would not hinder their performance.
“I don’t think that age is a factor, I think that they’re hungry to prove that they deserve their place there and they are definitely to be there on the world’s biggest stage and we really believe in them, not only the staff and their families but I’m sure all of the Filipinos supporting them really believe in their talents,” the coach said.
Meanwhile, Fontanilla said their training camp this time around was more grueling than usual.
“They have been on top of us a bit more because we are going into battle as they like to say, we definitely will always try to perfect our craft and we’re holding each other accountable a lot more than we usually do,” Fontanilla said.
“We’re training really hard every day and even though not all 29 of us will make it on the final roster, I know that each of us are battling for each other, even the ones that won’t make it,” she added.
It will be a busy 2023 for the ladies after a break from the World Cup.
“We have the Asian Games coming up in China and we are looking to make history again at the second round of the Olympic qualifiers in Perth, Australia,” Dela-Cruz said.
