Philippines’ first Women’s World Cup qualification has significant U.S. ties

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4 US-born Philippines gamers (L-R): Chandler McDaniel, Hali Lengthy, Sarina Bolden, Quinley Quezeda (Photograph Courtesy AFC)

The Philippines joined uncommon firm on Jan. 30. After enjoying Chinese language Taipei to a 1-1 draw by means of 120 minutes of play, the Philippines prevailed 4-3 on penalty kicks to turn out to be the thirty seventh nation ever to qualify for a Girls’s World Cup.

A key speaking level of the Philippines squad is their sturdy base of gamers from the USA, together with 12 who’re presently primarily based there — some nonetheless in school — whereas their three European-based gamers (in Cyprus, Spain, and Sweden) and two overseas in Japan’s WE-League have been all born within the U.S. and performed collegiately there. Solely six of the 23-person roster on the AFC Girls’s Asian Cup finals in India performed for membership groups within the Philippines. This system’s capacity to search out gifted gamers of Filipino descent within the U.S. was essential to its qualification.

Goalkeeper Kiara Fontanilla, one of many Philippines’ U.S-based gamers, performed final season at Division II Japanese Oregon College in La Grande. Enjoying for the Philippines was a lifelong objective for Fontanilla and allowed her to attach along with her prolonged household in Asia. She beforehand performed at Cal State-Fullerton and Division II Northwest Oklahoma State College. She needed to struggle her method onto the nationwide staff by means of an open tryout camp in Irvine, California, final November, which attracted over 100 gamers. She will likely be a volunteer coach again at Japanese Oregon later this yr and is contemplating an expert profession in soccer.

One other U.S.-based participant within the facet is 28-year-old Katrina Guillou, who’s in her second season with Pitea of Sweden after two seasons within the nation with second-division facet Moron and two years with ONS in Finland; she performed collegiately on the College of North Carolina-Wilmington.

The revelation of the event was ahead Sarina Bolden, one other U.S.-born participant from Northern California who scored 18 targets in her school profession at Loyola-Marymount. Bolden is now within the WE-League in Japan with Elfen Saitama and had stints in Sweden and in Taiwan in addition to with the San Francisco Nighthawks of the WPSL final summer season. Bolden’s teammate, Quinley Quezada, can also be primarily based in Japan with JEF United Chiba within the WE-League. Quezada, too, was born in California and performed at UC-Riverside.

There are two sisters on the staff: ahead Chandler McDaniel and beginning goalkeeper Olivia Davies-McDaniel, have been additionally raised in California and each went to varsity on the College of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

This massive reliance on their U.S.-based gamers has not been only a short-term repair for a closing’s event, as Greece did with wholesale importing of eight gamers largely from school applications within the U.S. to help their Olympic staff for the Athens Video games in 2004. Their objective to keep away from embarrassment was largely met however, after the Olympics, the Greek federation didn’t carry the People in once more for Girls’s World Cup qualifying (some have been even keen to pay their very own solution to Europe to take part). After mothballing the staff for 14 months, the staff misplaced all eight 2007 World Cup qualifiers, scoring solely twice whereas permitting 28 targets.

In distinction, the Philippines has for a while constructed a quickly bettering staff on the regional stage by calling upon U.S.-based expertise; on the final Girls’s Asian Cup in 2018 in Jordan (their first finals since 2003), that they had 14 U.S.-based gamers (plus one from Canada) who had all performed collegiately within the U.S. on their staff that, as a third-place staff of their group, made it to the fifth-place match for a closing Girls’s World Cup spot in France in 2019 however misplaced to South Korea, 5-0. The Philippines is dedicated to the event of ladies’s soccer and their technique to combine their massive diaspora group has been profitable on the sphere in addition to gaining consideration and a following at residence.

U.S. coaching camp

The Philippines held a two-month pre-tournament coaching camp in Irvine, California, from November 2021 till they left for India final month. It was extra environment friendly and productive due to COVID-19 and Visa points than what that they had accomplished earlier in 2021 for the AFC qualification spherical, after they needed to divide the squad into two coaching teams (U.S. and Philippines) and talk over Zoom. The staff was additional hampered by restrictions at residence for face-to-face practices due to COVID-19.

“There have been two completely different coaching camps with the locals staying right here in Manila and educated through Zoom assembly,” mentioned California-based midfielder Rocelle Mendano, who didn’t make the ultimate squad for the event. “It’s actually laborious as a result of we want match health, however thankfully, we have been capable of regulate immediately once we arrived in Uzbekistan [for the qualifiers].”

The pinnacle coach

Newly appointed head coach Alen Stajcic, the previous Australian ladies’s nationwide staff head coach, has been with the Philippines ladies’s nationwide staff for all of three months, since November 2021. He was fired by the Australian Soccer Federation in January 2019 due to a vaguely worded want to change the tradition across the staff with little different rationalization; some have been fairly important of the transfer, together with all-time main national-team scorer and Chelsea ahead Sam Kerr. Stajcic took the AFF to court docket for damaging his teaching status and gained a big settlement; he later coached Central Coast Mariners on the boys’s facet within the A-League.

It’s fairly ironic that Stajcic’s facet made the semifinals and his former facet Australia crashed out within the quarterfinals in India after a 1-0 defeat to South Korea (although Australia already certified for the 2023 Girls’s World Cup as co-host). The Matildas have been determined to win the Girls’s Asian Cup for the primary time since 2010, after dropping to Japan within the finals of the final two editions.

Stajcic and his teaching staff are out of contract now, however the Philippines Soccer Federation needs to signal him and his teaching workers to a long-term settlement by means of the 2023 Girls’s World Cup finals.

“We have now to speak to educate Alen due to course, he has introduced the staff to the place it’s now,” PFF president Nonong Araneta mentioned. “No matter it takes for us to get him [we will do].”

Stajcic’s workers included assistant coach Nahuel Arrarte from Australia, French goalkeeping coach Ludovic Antunes, and Italian energy and conditioning coach Luca Tonetti.

Leads to India

The Philippines defeated Thailand of their first match on Jan. 21. Chandler McDaniel scored the winner within the 81st minute, an enormous shock to Thailand — which had certified for the 2015 and 2019 Girls’s World Cup — notably because the Philippines had not crushed Thailand in 12 earlier makes an attempt. Within the second sport, on Jan. 24, Stajcic’s former facet Australia defeated the Philippines 4-0, with all of the targets coming within the second half. Of their final group match, the Philippines dispatched Indonesia 6-0 to complete second to the Matildas and transfer on to the eight-team knockout stage.

Within the quarterfinals, the Philippines defeated Chinese language Taipei 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 tie, with goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel saving two spot kicks and scoring as soon as throughout the tie-breaker session. Within the semifinals, the Philippines fell to South Korea, 2-0. There is no such thing as a third-fourth place match at this event, which has been performed totally behind closed doorways as a consequence of COVID-19 (hosts India needed to be faraway from the event following their opening sport, as a consequence of an outbreak).

Vietnam prevailed over Thailand and Chinese language Taipei within the loser’s bracket which decided the fifth and closing computerized World Cup berth out of Asia. Vietnam’s qualification was additionally their first for a Girls’s World Cup. Thailand and Chinese language Taipei will play within the 10-team world playoff in February 2023 to find out the ultimate three World Cup members. With the {qualifications} of the Philippines and Vietnam, 9 completely different nations from the AFC have now certified for a Girls’s World Cup closing occasion; they be a part of Australia, China, Chinese language Taipei, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and Thailand. China gained the AFC Asian Girls’s Cup for a file ninth time on Sunday, erasing a 2-0 deficit late to defeat South Korea, 3-2.

The Philippines squad will return residence triumphant and might now begin to plan for the 2023 Girls’s World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand in the summertime of 2023. Little doubt there will likely be sturdy U.S. ties on the staff, and lots of U.S. supporters rooting for them on their journey to Australia-New Zealand.