THE FILIPINAS will parade most of the members of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games gold-medal winning team in the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia.
Goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel and strikers Alexa Pino and Mallie Ramirez lead the 23-women squad in the tournament that serves as a qualifier for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
McDaniel was the hero of the Filipinas squad that captured their first-ever SEA Games gold last December in Thailand, while Pino and Ramirez were the leading goal scorers of the team during the tournament.
Other members of the squad are goalkeepers Nina Meollo and Leah Bradley, defenders Angela Beard, Malea Cesar, Jessica Cowart, Janae DeFazio, Kaya Hawkinson, Hali Long, Sophia Wunsch, and Ariana Markey, and midfielders Jourdyn Curran, Sara Eggesvik, Carleigh Frilles, Jael-Marie Guy, Natalie Oca, Bella Pasion, Jaclyn Sawicki, and Ava Villapando, and forwards Alex Cario, Anicka Castaneda, Katrina Guillou, Chandler McDaniel, and Paige McSwingan.
READ: Filipinas arrive for three-week Manila, Balesin training camp
A total of 16 players were part of the SEA Games team.
Filipinas coach Mark Torcaso hopes for the same success at the SEA Games, but also acknowledged that it is going to be a tough task as they face host Australia, Korea, and Iran in the group stage.
“I think very much that SEA Games is a really good of where we were at and what we want to do. It’s being a really good disciplined counter-attacking team,” said Torcaso.
“We saw that some of our young players like Pino, Mali Ramirez, they were complemented by the experienced players like Jackie, Hali, Sara and they did all did a fantastic job together,” said Torcaso.
“(But) we know how tough it is going to be,” he added.
The Philippines will be part of the opening match of the tournament on March 1 against the host country at the Perth Stadium.
The Filipinas will next face Korea on March 5 and Iran on March 8 in Gold Coast.
The top two teams in each of the three groups and the two best third-placers will advance to the quarterfinals. Out of the eight, six will advance to the World Cup, with the two moving to the inter-confederation playoffs.
A send-off for the Filipinas were held on Friday night at the SM Sky Amphitheater were it also celebrated the SEA Games gold medal with the team's fans during a meet-and-greet event.
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