Filipinas ready to put up 'good fight' vs defending champs Vietnam
HANOI — The Philippines women's national football team are bracing for a tough challenge in their next game in the 31st Southeast Asian Games as they clash with defending champions and hosts Vietnam on Wednesday.
After coming off of a 5-0 rout against Cambodia on Monday, Filipinas coach Alen Stajcic heaped praise on their next opponents but promised that his wards would bring their best football on the table.
"We've got a lot of respect for the way that they've improved over the last three, four years. I think they improved significantly and become a really good team, probably the best team in Southeast Asia so we've got a lot of respect for them," said Stajcic after the game.
"We're an improving nation, we're an emerging nation. [But] we're definitely gonna give them a good fight on Wednesday," he added.
Though the Filipinas have yet to play Vietnam since the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in Manila where they lost in the semifinal, 0-2, the team has been able to get acquainted with the Vietnamese's style after spending time together in the 2022 Women's Asian Cup in India earlier this year.
And despite not facing each other directly, Stajcic said there are no more strangers to Vietnam's game than the other way around.
"Ultimately, there's no more secrets in football with video now and scouting. We've got nothing to hide and you know, we've watched [Vietnam] quite a lot sometimes," he said.
Vietnam was able to catch the Filipinas' game over Cambodia in Cam Pha Monday. Still, Stajcic is not fretting that their foes have seized the upperhand.
The battle between the two FIFA Women's World Cup qualifiers kicks off Wednesday, 8 p.m. (Manila time).
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