Young Filipinas hope to make splash in AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers
MANILA, Philippines — The Filipinas U-20 squad will be looking to make a deep run in the first round of the AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers set in Laos next week.
Under the tutelage of Filipinas head coach Alen Stajcic's subordinate Nahuel Arrarte, the U-20 Filipinas are hoping to win their group to make it to the second round of the competition.
Before flying off to Laos, the U-20 team joined the women's team in welcoming the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup winners trophy during its public viewing at Glorietta in Makati on Wednesday.
"It's exciting times, it's a great opportunity for the young players as well. We've been in camp for the last five days here and we fly off to Laos. So really, no time to recover, we've gotta keep rolling because as we speak about it, it's about the future of Filipino football," said Arrarte.
"We're trying to leave a legacy and we wanna try to improve what has been done in the past in regards to football as a whole. It's not just the senior team, it's about capitalizing on these moments, expanding the game as a whole," he added.
Arrarte will be having his first competition with the U-20 team after taking the reigns earlier this year, with Stajcic also handling the U-16 squad.
In an effort to streamline the program from the youth teams to the senior team, Arrarte says that this competition, though they will also be vying for a spot in the U-20 Asian Cup, will be a part of the big picture in shaping the future of Philippine football.
"Look, when I took this job on board and we've spoken about it with Coach Alen, not only is it important that we try to qualify for the next round of the World Cup qualifiers for the U-20, but as well it's important to make sure that we continue to grow the depth of the seniors squad," said Arrarte.
"Ultimately, as the U-20 coach, yes we wanna win, we wanna go as high as possible but hopefully we can increase the number of players or see some of these players come into the senior team soon," he added.
The young Filipinas flew to Laos on Thursday and will be playing their first match on Wednesday, March 8, against China.
They will also be facing off against hosts Laos on March 10 before wrapping up the first round against Hong Kong on Sunday, March 12.
Leading the push for the U-20 team will be Bella Flanigan and Chantelle Maniti who have already been called up to the senior team in previous competitions.
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