ALAS Pilipinas head coach Jorge Souza de Brito pinned their rough Southeast Asian (SEA) Games debut to one glaring, longstanding issue: their lack of preparation time.
On top of that, the 59-year-old Brazilian mentor admitted how hardly having any players available during their supposed training window for the tournament became a stark limitation that once again came back to haunt them on the regional stage.
READ: Alas now in must-win situation after opener loss to Thailand
“We’ve been for six months playing with two guys, so it’s not enough. You have to find ways,” he said after the Philippines absorbed a familiar straight-sets defeat to host and 14-peat champion Thailand, 11-25, 17-25, 16-25, on Thursday.
“The guys will find ways, but right now we don’t talk about this. Since you’re here, try to deliver the best that you can.”
It was only in the first week of December, just days before the SEA Games formally opened, that de Brito finally had all 14 players in camp after they completed their obligations with their respective mother teams.
For the most part, the late finish of the 2025 PVL Reinforced Conference on November 30 hampered De Brito’s preparations.
Players were allowed to join national team training in full capacity only after their clubs had been eliminated from the competition, leaving the Brazilian mentor with a fragmented roster for several weeks and delaying the chance to work with a full squad.
All these developments stemmed from a rift between the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) and the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF), triggered by the latter’s alleged late compliance in processing International Transfer Certificates (ITCs) for foreign guest players ahead of the Reinforced Conference.
The delay resulted in the league’s first import-less game day, which was eventually scrapped altogether.
With an additional game day inserted to compensate and the tournament calendar already fixed to run until Nov. 30, the PVL was left with little room to maneuver, effectively ruling out any adjustment to the conference’s end date amid increasingly tight time constraints.
Laban Alas, laban Pilipinas
Alyssa Solomon (eight points) and Angel Canino (seven) spearheaded the Alas offense, but even their contributions could not keep them within striking distance against a Thai squad anchored by veterans with years of chemistry.
For de Brito, the manner of the loss was the most surprising.
“The first match in this SEA Games is not the way we expected, but we have a lot to deliver for the country, still,” he said.
“Since we don’t have a lot of preparation, we have to put all the guys to start to make the first game here today.”
The defeat leaves the Philippines in a must-win situation entering Friday’s clash against also-winless Singapore.
A victory seals the final semifinal berth, with Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia having already secured the first three slots. A loss, however, relegates Alas to the classification phase, dashing their medal hopes for good
Knowing very well the recurring challenge of limited build-up time, de Brito said the coaching staff will spend the next 24 hours searching for quick fixes to salvage their campaign.
“Tomorrow is going to be different, and of course in the next three matches, we’re going to deliver much more than today,” he vowed.
“We’re gonna study what happened, but the chemistry without play is hard. We’re going to find this in the next three matches.”
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