The country's newest football field located at the heart of one of Asia's biggest shopping malls, was welcomed by members of the women's national football team who gave it the thumbs up and said the facility will be a boost to Philippine football.
The team, known as the Filipinas, inaugurated the Mall of Asia Football Field with an intra-squad game a few days ago as part of its ongoing preparations for several international campaigns and were impressed by how modern and how well it conforms to international standards.
READ: Filipinas light up newly-built MoA pitch with competitive draw
The newly-built facility is part of the MOA Sky that also has other attractions such as an amphitheatre, garden, paw park, sanctuary, and fitness track.
The pitch is FIFA-grade, and the football venue can seat 1,800 spectators who can reach the open air site via elevators. It has a breathtaking view of Manila Bay and on the other side, the skyline of Metro Manila.
But more than the view, PWNT coach Mark Torcaso said the facility is a welcome addition to what has been a very limited number of football pitches in the city.
As of now, only the Rizal Memorial Stadium can qualify as top grade field for training, but it is currently closed as its artificial turf, like the one at the MOA, is being refurbished.
“I’ve never played a football game on a roof before,” said Torcaso. “I think the really exciting part is that we have a facility for our girls to be training and playing on.”
“Respectful to Rizal (Memorial), the surface wasn’t always the best. Now that’s refurbished as well, so it’s great that we’ve got two really good facilities."
In the past, the Philippine team has been holding their training during the FIFA international window overseas, but with the SM facility, Torcaso said they plan to hold more camps in Manila and hopefully, identify more players especially the ones based in the Philippines.
“I know that’s been a problem in the past, to train somewhere in the Philippines. Now that we’ve got a nice little home that we can utilize, the plan would be to be here as often as we can,” said Torcaso.
Emma Tovar, the 21-year-old Valencia CF midfielder and one of the new faces in the team, said it was a one of a kind experience to train and play in the facility.
“It’s pretty cool. I’ve never played in a rooftop, let alone on a rooftop of a mall. New opportunities. I’m glad that we were the inaugurating team to kind of bless the field,” said Tovar.
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