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    SOTY: Filipinas patron Jeff Cheng is SPIN.ph Executive of the Year

    Meet top backer who helped the PWNT reach new heights
    Dec 28, 2022
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    ILLUSTRATION: Echo Antonio

    THE Philippine women’s football team made great strides on the way to a historic berth in the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup. None of it would have been possible without the support of Jeff Cheng, the team manager of the Filipinas.

    An entrepreneur involved in airport operations and logistics, Cheng has always been into football, having previously owned a local men’s club team. But it was in the women’s game where Cheng would make a historic impact.

    Cheng became the chief backer of the squad in 2018. With his support, PWNT began to post respectable finishes in international competitions, thanks to the widening of the talent search both here and abroad as well as the staging of training camps.

    PWNT also levelled up in the coaching department, hiring Alen Stajcic to lead the squad. Stajcic’s resume included bringing the Australia women’s national team to World Cup appearances in 2015 and 2019.

    The labor and love for football finally bore fruit in 2022.

    The Filipinas made ‘her-story’ by clinching a berth in the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup for the very first time. The Philippines defeated Chinese Taipei, 4-3, on penalties after a 1-1 tie during the quarterfinal match of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, earning the team one of the five outright berths allotted for the continent at the World Cup.

    The Philippines eventually placed fourth in the Asian tournament after bowing to Korea in the semifinals. But Cheng made sure that the Filipinas would sustain their progress and success over the next few months leading up to the World Cup.

    The first order of business was to keep the coaching staff intact, with Cheng able to renew the services of Stajcic and his team, whose initial contract was only until the Women’s Asian Cup. New players continued to join the pool, bolstering the bid to form the best team possible for the World Cup next year.

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    With the build-up for the World Cup in high gear, Cheng’s efforts continued to pay off.

    After the triumph in the Asian Cup, the women’s team stamped its class in the Southeast Asian region, begging the AFF Women’s Championship last June at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. The World Cup-bound Filipinas led by top goal scorer Sarina Bolden captivated the hearts of Filipino sports fans after a 3-0 victory over Thailand in the final.

    The AFF title came just a few months after PWNT took the bronze medal in the Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam as it came from behind to defeat Myanmar, 2-1, for the first SEA Games medal by the women’s team since 1985.

    Cheng was also at the forefront of the team’s goal to be as prepared as possible for the World Cup. Through the support of Cheng, the Filipinas were able to book friendly matches and training camps in all of the Fifa windows during the final quarter of the year against World Cup-bound opponents and teams with higher world rankings.

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    They were all over the world – from the United States to Costa Rica to Chile to Australia – for the best exposure possible. And although the Filipinas had mixed results during these friendlies, officials hope the experience will count come 2023.

    “It’s a great opportunity for the team to continue testing their abilities and to improve,” said Cheng.

    WATCH full video here.

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    ILLUSTRATION: Echo Antonio
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