THE coaching staff of the Philippine women’s football team doesn’t want the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup to be a one-off thing.
And in a bid to sustain the success of the national team, head coach Alen Stajcic is set to play a major role in the programs geared for the grassroots and youth level beginning with his appointment as the head coach of the Under-17 team.
Stajcic’s assistant Nahuel Arrarte has also been appointed as the Under-20 coach.
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Stajcic has already embarked on a major talent search beginning with a tryout conducted in the US that drew 110 players aged 13 to 17. The Filipinas head coach flew in for only the second time to personally supervise the local tryouts to be held in Manila, Cebu, and Davao.
“Hopefully, we can lean on some of the success that we have with the senior national team with both youth national teams, and ultimately, youth national teams are all about winning but more importantly, they are about development and talent ID, and hopefully, laying a good foundation for the success of the team,” said Stajcic on Wednesday during a press conference held at the Acacia Hotel in Muntinlupa City.
“We are not a flash in the pan. We are not a qualify-to-the-World Cup-once, and we are happy with that. Hopefully, this team will be able to qualify in the World Cup and the Olympic Games for the next five to 10 years,” said Stajcic, who was joined in the press conference by team manager Jeff Cheng, team captain Hali Long, and Inna Palacios.
While taking over the youth programs, Stajcic and his staff will be busy in the build-up of the Filipinas for the 2023 tournaments leading up to the World Cup.
PWNT is also slated to compete in the Olympic qualifying tournament and the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia in May.
As part of the preparations for these tournaments, PWNT will take part in the Pinatar Cup in Murcia, Spain where world-ranked teams including those bound for the World Cup will see action.
“2023 is a very busy year for us. We already started in January with the tryouts. We will have our Pinatar Cup for our senior women’s national team. We have an Olympic qualifier and the SEA Games. Basically, every month, we have something for the national team for the seniors team, U20 and U17 team,” said Cheng.
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