As World Cup draws near, Stajcic delighted to see Filipinas play in clubs
MANILA, Philippines – More and more members of the Philippine women's national football team are signing contracts to play with professional clubs abroad as their maiden appearance in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup looms in July.
Since qualifying for the elite tournament in January 2022, more than 10 members of the national team are now part of a club team apart from their duties with the Filipinas.
Head coach Alen Stajcic underscored the importance of having regular football matches and training with their teams, especially when the national team goes on break or isn't actively training.
"When we went to the Asian Cup last year, out of the 23, from memory, we had three players who were playing in clubs. As of today, we're over 15 who are playing abroad. So it's a big difference. It's a big difference," Stajcic told the media in a press conference organized by the Philippine Football Federation at the Acacia Hotel in Alabang on Wednesday.
"And just to know that when we're not together as a country, these players can go back and train with clubs and play with clubs is a big difference to what we had when we left the Asian Cup," he added.
Stajcic had expressed that getting players to clubs would be pivotal in their development as they will get to hone their skills even when they are away from Stajcic's watchful eye.
"When we left the Asian Cup, 20 players went back home to nothing. To home training programs, to running around the park on their own and doing individual skills practice. You know, that's good, but that's limited in terms of you developing as a footballer. So, it's like a band-aid, but over a long period of time, it's not a very good band-aid," said the Aussie mentor.
"We've got to the point now, we've got a large chunk of players playing abroad, and playing in clubs. Within the group, even the players identified that that was a weakness within our group that they wanted to rectify, and that's what's been happening in the last couple of months," he said.
Among those actively playing are Sarina Bolden and Jaclyn Sawicki, who are seeing action in Australia's A-League, while Quinley Quezada and suits up for a club in Serbia. Katrina Guillou and Jessika Cowart play in Sweden, Sara Eggesvik campaigns in Norway, and skipper Tahnai Annis plies her trade in Iceland.
Local talents like Hali Long, Inna Palacios and Shai del Campo have stints in the Philippines' own PFF Women's League, among others.
While Stajcic believes that even those without club contracts can make it to the World Cup roster when the tournament rolls around in a couple of months, he believes that being able to play continuously will give those who play with their respective teams a significant advantage.
"Ultimately, in one respect, it doesn't matter. The best players will get picked. And in the other respect, the more you play, the more you train, the more games you play, the better the games you play. The better you play, the better the training environment that you have, you're giving yourself more chances of being a better player," said Stajcic.
The Filipinas head coach recently bared that he has yet to pick anyone for the 23 spots for the country's first-ever appearance in the World Cup.
Before that, though, the Filipinas will see action in the Pinatar Cup in Spain next month. They also have the Olympic Qualifying Tournament and the 32nd Southeast Asian Games on tap before heading to Australia and New Zealand.
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