That is a nice pic of the 2 new additions(since the Asian Cup) with professional experience that has vastly improved the depth and skill of our midfield. You might want to let Sara know the story of Filipino great Paulino Alcantara of how he became Asia's greatest footballer and FC Barcelona's first superstar holding the record for the most goals scored by the club before Messi broke it a century later but who also became a doctor after finishing his football career.
Cool! Is Eggesvik now a part of the squad going to the AFF championships? She is wearing #25. Sounds big for a tournament squad.
Australia decided to send an U23 team + 2 overage players(McNamara and Crummer) to the AFF Women's Championship. https://www.footballaustralia.com.a...-player-australian-u-23-squad-2022-aff-womens Six members of the squad have recorded full senior international appearances(including Fil Aussie Amy Sayer) with eight players participating in the recent June FIFA Women’s International Window in Spain(0-7 loss) and Portugal (1-1 draw) with the Matildas. I am surprised they didn't include Courtnee Vine even though she is 24 y.o. already.
Andreatta and Stajcic Speak Ahead Of AFF Opener Australian Under 23’s manager Mel Andreatta is excited to be leading the team into the AFF Cup in Manila. Australia will face off against the Philippines on Monday night at 9pm (AEST) in the first game of an intense schedule of group games that will take in five games in eight days. “We’re excited to be here and thank both AFF and the PFF for hosting this tournament,” Andreatta told Southeast Asia’s football media. “We’re excited to be building on newfound opportunities for these players to gain important experiences in international football against the best Southeast Asian nations in football.” With both a Senior World Cup and an Under 20’s tournament in the near future. This tournament is another important development step for Australia’s rising talent. Above: Charli Grant – one of those players who have come directly from the senior Matildas camp in Spain and Portugal at the AFF Championships. Photo: Football Australia. Australia has traditionally sent an Under 20’s squad to the AFF Championships. But in an effort to improve player pathways, for this event they have formed an Under 23 side. Senior Matildas assistant Andreatta will take the reigns as head coach, with Under 20’s manager Leah Blayney in support. Of the squad, only Charli Grant was part of the Asian Cup campaign. But she will be joined by a group of players who were in the most recent senior camps in Spain and Portugal. Larissa Crummer, Matilda McNamara, Amy Sayer, Winonah Heatley, Mackenzie Hawkesby, Princess Ibini, and Jamilla Rankin have travelled directly from Portugal to Manila. Andreatta says that the focus in early sessions has been on recovery for those players, and she is optimistic they will be available for the first match. “That’s been a big priority for the travel and arrival in the Philippines,” she said of the recovery program. “They’re looking good, we had a start-up session yesterday, so on the ground they’re looking good. “We’ll train today and work with our SSSM team to ensure that they’re in the right physical condition to be available for selection in the first game “As we spoke about in the FIFA window, for these players, it continues to be the same focus, to build that important international match experience against top opponents. That’s what we’re looking forward to seeing here at AFF and bring their qualities and performing against Southeast Asia’s best teams.” Above: Philippines head coach Alen Stajcic, who knows the Australian squad very well. Photo: Adam Aidil/Asian Football Confederation. Although The Philippines is sending their senior team to the tournament, manager Alen Stajcic is not taking Australia lightly. “Australia’s probably got a lot more depth than most other countries in Southeast Asia,” Stajcic said about the rematch from the Asian Cup group stage. “They’ve been ranked in the top 10 for the last 10 years. They’re there for a reason that they’ve been one of the stronger nations in the region. “No doubt they’re probably still one of the favourites for this tournament regardless of who they’ve brought. Age isn’t really the issue, its really the quality on the pitch,” he said to dismiss the idea that younger players would make easier opponents. “I’ve seen a lot of those players grow up including some of the 16-year-old’s that they have in the squad now. I think some of the 16-year-old’s they have in the squad are as good as any of the kids that have come before them. “Young Daniella Galic and Alexia Apostolakis are two of the best talents in south-east Asia at the moment. I’m not underestimating them. I think they’re a very good squad, and probably the favourites to win this tournament. It’s going to be a good experience for our team Above: Alexia Apostolakis of Western Sydney Wanderers, one of the youngest members of the Australia U23 squad, but she is highly rated by Alen Stajcic. Photo: AAP/Mick Tsikas. “There’s no such thing as ‘not full strength’, every game is full strength. It doesn’t matter who’s out there, it’s an international fixture… it’s two nations competing against each other, everyone wants to learn but everyone wants to win.” Mel Andretta has a strong squad at her disposal. Along with the recently anointed senior Matildas, she has selected some of the best young players in the country. Chelsie Dawber has joined the squad on the back of her best-ever season with Adelaide United and having flown in from her season with Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL. Hana Lowry, Caitlin Karic, and Paige Zois are some of the most highly rated attackers in Victoria and Western Australia. This tournament represents an important step for the players and the overall strategy of the national team. “Last time we were involved was in 2018,” said Andreatta. “For us its continuing to build a bank of tournament experience for these players and get those important match minutes in international football, and to help these players gain experience in world cups and future Olympics games and beyond. “We’ve seen in the past that many players who’ve been involved in AFF have gone on to experience selection in such tournaments. We’re hoping for the same in this tournament and of course being an Australian team, we also want to perform and do well alongside that.” https://impetusfootball.org/2022/07/03/andreatta-and-stajcic-speak-ahead-of-aff-opener/
Football: Coach proud of Filipinas' progress but still plenty of room for improvement The players of the Philippine women's national football team have made great strides over the past few months, but their coach believes that they can reach an even higher level. Alen Stajcic recently lauded the "encouraging" results performances of the Filipinas, which included a bronze medal in the 31st Southeast Asian Games and a slim 1-0 defeat to higher-ranked Ireland, as well as a pair of victories against Bosnia and Herzegovina. However the coach was also quick to note that there is plenty of work left to be done as they continue to prepare for next year's FIFA Women's World Cup -- starting with the AFF Women's Championship that kicks off tomorrow at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. "We're progressing," Stajcic said in a recent press conference. "We're [an] evolving and an emerging team." "[But] we're not getting ahead of ourselves," he also said. "Certainly, the results we had in Europe were encouraging. I thought we played really well in certain aspects of the game, and the players and the group really know the areas that we did well in." "But we're also really focused on the areas we didn't do so well, and we know how much more we have to improve." Stajcic highlighted the improved fitness of the Filipinas, noting that this was something they emphasized after their campaign in the AFC Women's Asian Cup. He was also proud of the mental resilience that they displayed, particularly in the SEA Games where they battled back from a goal down to stun Myanmar in the bronze medal match. "In my time with the team, we've never come back from being behind before. Up until that Myanmar game, and that Myanmar game, we turned it around at halftime," he said. "Whether that's mentality or luck or just the passion and drive to fight to the death, whatever it is, there's now belief that we can come from behind," he added. They held onto that belief in their friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina last week, when they scored twice in the final five minutes to overturn a one-goal deficit. "To do that again the other night against Bosnia, away from home, it was also really pleasing to see," said Stajcic. "So it's not just the physical parts of the game but also the mentality parts of the game, and also the culture within the group to wanna fight to the death and push for a winner." Still, Stajcic wants to see the Filipinas keep moving forward, especially with the World Cup coming up next year. The Philippines qualified for the showcase event for the first time in February, when they reached the semifinals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022. "There's a lot of room for improvement in our game, and we're working hard at training every single time, with video sessions and all kinds of different methods of ensuring that everyone gets up to speed with becoming the best team we can be," said the coach. "We're really happy with the progression, we always are," he added. "There's a lot of learning and growth that's happened. So we're really looking forward to the next chapter." The next chapter is the AFF Women's Championship, which the Filipinas open on Monday against Australia's Under-23 team. Stajcic says the team is determined to deliver another podium finish, after their breakthrough in the SEA Games where they won a medal for the first time in over 30 years. "As much as development's important, we wanna be a winning team and have a winning mentality. So trying to get on that podium is definitely a massive priority," Stajcic said. https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/...vadR6nvF_abeZL7wX-8X4YkDR5aMcBZlzodfLNpTbhkyE
Unfortunately the livestream has been geoblocked by the PFF's designated broadcast partner Cignal TV. I think that the AFF and AFC will think long and hard next time about allowing the Philippines to host their tournament games considering the lack of professionalism at the PFF with regards to sharing telecasts of their national team games. This is embarrasing for the PFF. Even Football Australia is telling their fans that they cannot do anything about it since the PFF is holding the broadcast rights.
FT Philippines 1-0 Australia Sarina Bolden 60' Nice start by the Philippines over an Aussie U23 team with 2 overage players. This is the strongest team that Australia has sent to an AFF Championship since 2008 when they won it with their senior team. Since then they usually just sent their U20 women's team. I only wished I was able to watch it live but I will settle for a replay on youtube. This an impressive win over a young Aussie team that had players who had top tier experience in the US, Australia and Sweden.
Despite the glaring roster shakeup from Australia, Stajcic stated that the Filipinas showed how much they’ve improved from the last time they played each other, but he still wants more from his promising team. “I’m always greedy as all the players know. We just know that this is the point we’re at now and how much harder we need to work to improve to become a real force in the World Cup, so this is a good building block.”
Live stream Philippine Singapore https://www.facebook.com/watch/live...¬if_id=1657103544950321¬if_t=live_video
Starting Roster for Singapore game. A lot of subs are in including 2 teenagers(Cesar and Flanigan) and a new player making his debut for the Philippines (Alcantara). And the 17 y.o. Flanigan scores the first goal.
And they subbed in the other teenagers 17 y.o Maniti to the other 2 teens 17 y.o. Flanigan and 18 y.o. Cesar to make a very young lineup. This is probably the youngest lineup I have seen the Philippine women's team field with players in their teens and early 20's. Eggesvik scores her first goal for the Filipinas early in 2nd half followed by Hawkinson. And they subbed in 20 y.o Frilles as well.
FT Philippines 7-0 Singapore Flanigan, Annis x 2, Bolden, Eggesvik, Hawkinson, Castaneda It is nice to see Coach Staj gives some playing time to the primarily younger less experienced members of the squad and it is good to see them work on improving on keeping possession of the ball an area of the game he wants them to get better at.
“Obviously, it’s important to be on the top of the table,” said coach Alen Stajcic. “It’s where every team wants to be and we’re pleased to be there.” “We scored some good goals today. One of the parts of our game that we always said we needed to improve is on the ball. There were large chunks of that game where I thought we were good on the ball.” “It’s very important in a tournament like this where there are five games in nine days that everyone contributes. We’ve got a big squad and it’s important everyone in the squad contributes to this tournament if we’re gonna come out on top,” said the erstwhile Central Coast Mariners head coach. “I’m pleased that we could rotate a lot of new players into the team and we’re gonna continue that throughout the week and ensure that everyone gets an opportunity to put their hand up for a spot in the team long-term,” concluded Stajcic.
Full Replay of the Philippines 1-0 win over Australia's U23 squad https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=756206095417479
Injury Update: 3 players were noticeably not included in the past 2 game rosters in the AFF Championships : Sofia Harrison, Ryley Bugay and Alyssha del Campo. Apparently they are still recovering from injuries sustained from previous games and in training camp and might not be available for the rest of the tournament. Fortunately our depth allows us to overcome this losses and still remain competitive winning 2 games so far in the tournament. Against Singapore they even fielded a very young lineup with Coach Staj giving major playing time to 3 teenagers in 17 y.o.'s Flanigan and Maniti and 18 y.o Cesar as well as 20 y.o Frilles, 21 y.o.'s Alcantara and Shelton, and 22 y.o.'s Castaneda and Hawkinson, the Philippine's very own version of Australia's U23 squad and still comfortably dominated the game.
Starting lineup against Malaysia. Coach Staj is clearly rotating his players with a different lineup every game using the 3rd different goalkeeper in 3 games. Looks like Harrison has recovered from her injury.
FT Philippines 4-0 Malaysia Eggesvik, Guillou, Quezada, Castaneda With 1 goal and 2 assists MVP is the newcomer Eggesvik who had a huge impact in this win. Dominating performance with a 25-0 stat in shots for the Philippines 11 on target. Malaysia's sure handed goalkeeper along with it's park the bus mentality kept the damage to only 4 goals conceded as the Philippines had a hard time breaking thru that mass of bodies on defence.
Cool! It looks like she is going to be a regular feature in this national team squad now. If that's the case, it will be interesting to see her next club. She can't continue playing in amateur club Malvik at the fourth tier in Norway going in to a World Cup season.
She has contributed in practically every game she has played even in a sub role with limited minutes. She had 2 assists in her first 2 games against Bosnia playing only 30' total for both games. Coach Staj kept on increasing her minutes until she finally started in the game against Singapore. I would say with 2 goals and numerous assists(at least 4 or 5) in 5 games played, that she pretty much cemented a spot in the team long term. I don't think she can play full pro and continue her medical studies. Her pro club duties won't give her time to go to class and study. She will either have to put on hold her medical studies for a year or seek permission from her university to join the Philippines during friendlies and preparatory training camps which would be difficult for such a demanding field like medicine.