Following seniors, Filipinas U17 squad eyes historic FIFA World Cup berth

MANILA, Philippines – The Filipinas U17 team has the chance to make history like their seniors before them as they compete for a FIFA U17 World Cup berth in the 2024 AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup in Bali, Indonesia beginning next week.

Under the guidance of head coach Sinisa Cohadzic and consultant Mark Torcaso in a revamped program, the young Filipinas will qualify for the World Cup if they reach the semifinals of the tournament, which will be held beginning May 6.

This will be the team’s debut performance in the tournament, and while a World Cup berth is a lofty goal, Cohadzic believes that the girls have every ounce of faith in their abilities, and preparations, to take their place in Philippine football history.

“Listen, one thing that this team has is passion to play the game, and that passion will flow into the tournament. And it’s something that they will never go wondering of what’s going to happen. That’s something that we can rely on and be very confident that we will bring that,” Cohadzic told the media during the team’s send-off at the Vermosa Sports Hub in Cavite on Sunday. 

“Now the tournament, [there’s] a lot of factors on what’s going to happen but we’re very confident that we’ve got this group of players ready and we’re really confident that they have the support and the best resources possible that we gave them to actually get that objective,” he said.

There won’t be any freebies for the Filipinas U17, though, as they are expecting tough competition from hosts Indonesia, as well as South Korea and North Korea.

The team will be led by the likes of young stars Alexa Pino, Niña Mathelus, and Aiselyn Sia that have also seen action with the seniors team in their most recent friendly against South Korea earlier this month.

Pino, who is among the team’s captains, shared that her experience with the Filipinas will prove vital to their campaign in Indonesia.

“Honestly, it’s a very big difference coming from the seniors to here, the speed of the play is different, the way the players see the game, and the maturity,” Pino said. 

“It’s a very nice environment to be in and I think that definitely has helped me bring things that I’ve worked on there into my game for the U17s.”

As part of their preparations, before they flew to Indonesia on Monday, the Filipinas U17 played two sets of friendlies in Cavite. They won over the Ang Liga U17 All-Stars, 6-0, before following it up with a 3-0 drubbing of seniors club Manila Digger FC.

Cohadzic underscored the importance of playing two different games in preparation for their competition.

“[The] two games have been very different — the first game and the second game. The first game, we obviously had to dominate the ball, and dominate possession, and obviously, make sure that we control the tempo,” said Cohadzic. 

“Where [as] the second game is where we had to test our physicality and that’s something that [is] great preparation for us to go into the Asian Cup tournament where we will have to probably control the game against Indonesia, and where we physically have to compete against South Korea and North Korea. So great preparation going into it,” he added.

The Filipinas U17 make their debut in the tournament against hosts Indonesia on Monday, May 6, at 7 p.m.