Reflecting on the Filipinas' World Cup qualification a year after

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine women's national football team recently celebrated the anniversary of their historic qualification to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup — a landmark moment in Philippine sports.

The first time the country has ever booked a spot in either the men's or women's World Cup, January 30, 2022 marked a high for Filipino sports fans, which some would say could even rival Hidilyn Diaz' Olympic gold moment in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Looking back, Filipinas head coach Alen Stajcic said that things started to go on the uptick when his wards faced the Matildas in the group stages of the AFC Women's Asian Cup in India.

Though falling 4-0 at full time, the Filipinas were able to hold their ground in the first 45 minutes. Their ability to go toe-to-toe with one of the world's best in women's football, according to the Aussie mentor, was the stepping stone for the Filipinas' meteoric rise.

"When I think back to that game, it was probably the moment where I thought that, you know, there's a lot more promise in this team. I don't wanna speak for the players, but it was the moment where maybe even they reflected and said, we can actually do this, you know. We can actually get to levels that probably we didn't even imagine," Stajcic said in a press conference last week.

"At halftime, at nil-all against one of the superpowers of women's football at the time was something. Obviously we couldn't sustain it for 90 minutes at that time, but for 45 minutes we showed we could at least be competitive, probably for the first time in this team's history," he added.

From then on, it was everything the Filipinas could've imagined — and more.

After the World Cup qualification, the Filipinas also won their first medal in the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam in May, and then clinched the AFF Women's Championship for the first time in program history in July.

Stajcic knew how big 2022 was, but also looked to maintain the growth — even if it's not at the same blistering pace. With the challenge of the World Cup looming, the tactician preaches perseverance among his ranks that it may not be as successful as it was last year, but it doesn't matter.

"Sometimes in life and in sport, it's a bit of a rocky road, and it's two steps forward, one step back. And you know, you have to have a lot of resilience. But last year was just a really steep climb for this group," said Stajcic.

"I'm hoping that we have another steep climb, but we also gotta be resilient and respectful of how hard it is to keep climbing. It was an unbelievable year, a miraculous year, a historic year. Everything, all the adjectives that we've used to describe that year. But I just know... the more you keep climbing, the harder it is to keep climbing. So we have to work even harder than what we did last year. We need to put even more effort in -- tactically, technically, physically, mentally — to be able to keep climbing the mountains and the hills that lay ahead."

Rising expectations

Stajcic's subordinate Nahuel Arrarte also shared his own thoughts as assistant coach. Alongside Stajcic, he was able to see just how the players were able to develop.

"Obviously, 12 months have gone past and the team has grown. I think we as individuals have grown as well. The team itself, you've seen where we're going — playing in different continents, and now there's an expectation. We talk about that all the time, whereas previously, we were just sort of happy to participate," said Arrarte.

"But now, we're going into tournaments with expectations to do well, like in the SEA Games. Now we're going to the Pinatar Cup, and it's not just going there for the sake of competing anymore. So, that's what I think I'm really, really looking forward to this year, is that we're going to tournaments expecting, looking to see how far we can push ourselves, and I think that's something, full credit to the girls," he continued.

Arrarte said that what the Filipinas have been doing for the past year not only fuels their own confidence, but also makes everybody else see just what they can do. From fans to stakeholders in the country, more have gone to subscribe to the success of the team.

Now looking forward to the World Cup and beyond, Arrarte sees last year as a great starting point.

"They've actually started to believe in themselves, and on top of that, make us believe in them even more, and obviously collectively, create belief within the country, the nation. Which, I think is something that maybe haven't been felt before in the Philippines, compared to what's happening in the last 12 months," said Arrarte.

"So yeah, obviously a massive opportunity. Like Coach Alen said, we've got to keep climbing up that mountain, and it gets harder and harder. But now I think we've created a decent foundation."

Stajcic and Arrarte recently announced that they will be overseeing the youth teams, coaching the U-17 and U-20 teams, respectively, as they attempt to maintain the program that netted the Philippines a spot in the World Cup.

But before anything else, Stajcic and Arrarte will steer the Filipinas in the upcoming 2023 Pinatar Cup in Spain where they face European teams Wales, Iceland, and Scotland in what they consider a warm-up event for the World Cup.