MEMBERS of the Philippine women’s national football team expressed their gratitude to Alen Stajcic for laying the groundwork for the future.
The Filipinas are back from New Zealand after a historic campaign at the Women’s World Cup, but they made the trip home without Stajcic after his contract as head coach wasn't renewed after it expired at the end of the campaign.
Two days after it was announced that he will no longer be with the team, Stajcic was officially named as head coach of the Perth Glory men’s football team in the A-League, following his two-year stint with the Filipinas.
Filipinas attacking midfielder Katrina Guillou said Stajcic has given the team the belief that they can be competitive against top teams all over the world - a mindset that they can adopt moving forward.
Under Stajcic’s guidance, the Filipinas, with the help as well of team manager Jeff Cheng, were able to compete against the best teams in their build-up in the Women’s World Cup. That included unofficial matches against two-time defending champion United States and world No. 3 Sweden.
Aside from the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Stajcic also led the Filipinas to their first-ever AFF Women’s Championship crown last year.
“I think just to have that belief in ourselves that we can compete with these top nations, I think he really brought that out of all of us,” said Guillou on Thursday during the Filipinas meet-and-greet with fans organized by official outfitter adidas. “And now that we all know how it feels like, we have that confidence going forward.”
Chandler McDaniel said the team is grateful to Stajcic for the knowledge he shared with the team. She added that the things that the team learned from the Australian coach will be helpful once a new mentor is named.
“I think coach Alen had done a lot for the program. He’s done a lot to this team. I think we are all very grateful to have had him. We wish him the best of luck… But I think he has given us a lot of foundation to work on and continue with whoever the next coach might be,” said McDaniel.
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