THE Philippine women's football team has a new coach.
Mark Torcaso is set to take over the Filipinas following their historic campaign in the 2023 Fifa Women's World Cup.
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The 42-year-old Torcaso replaces fellow Australian Alen Stajcic, who accepted an offer to coach Perth Glory in the A-League.
The Philippine Football Federation announced the hiring on its website.
Torcaso is the reigning A-League Women head coach of the year, having led Melbourne-based Western United to the grand final.
PFF president Mariano 'Nonong' Araneta, general secretary Edwin Gastanes, and PWNT manager Jefferson Cheng met with Torcaso in Sydney over the weekend to formalize the appointment.
"We welcome coach Mark and his staff to the PFF family," said Araneta. "We are confident that they will continue raising the standards of the Philippine Women's National Team on all aspects and take the team to greater heights at the back of a historic and memorable 2023 Fifa Women's World Cup in New Zealand."
Torcaso will coach the Filipinas in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in September, and the AFC Olympic Qualifiers in Perth in October.
Australia’s Sinisha Cohadzic and former New Zealand international Andrew Durante will be part of Torcaso's coaching staff.
Cohadzik was also appointed coach of the girls under-17 and women's under-20, and will handle the team the AFC Asian Cup qualifying tournament for girls under-17 in Vietnam next month.
"It is important that we continue the momentum from the Filipinas' historic Fifa Women's World Cup campaign in New Zealand. We have a motivated and accomplished coach in Mark Torcaso together with his staff, ready to lead our women's teams in upcoming competitions."
"We are all excited to start training and competing again," Cheng said. "We welcome coach Mark and his team to Philippine football, and are excited to see them build on t
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