Livestream https://www.facebook.com/watch/live...¬if_id=1677006915460157¬if_t=live_video Katrina Guillou is not part of the lineup as she left early to join her Swedish team in the Svenska Cup.
Iceland 5-0 Philippines Complete domination by Iceland. The Philippines were taught a lesson on so many levels including proper use of their height advantage, physicality, ball possession and management, speed and accuracy. I thought the first 2 goals were kind of weak and preventable as our goaltender who doesn't play games outside of training camp looked rusty and out of sorts but the final 3 were well deserved after some patient buildup and heads up play. The absence of 2 of the Philippine's best players, Sara Eggesvik and Katrina Guillou hamstrung them a little bit on offence but regardless the way Iceland''s defence shut down any forays the Philippines it might not have been enough anyways. Even the usually physical Sarina Bolden was being outmuscled and outpositioned by one of Iceland's husky defenders. Congrats to Iceland for winning the Pinatar Cup.
PWNT defender Dominique Randle has been signed by one of Iceland's top flight teams Þór/KA joining captain Tahnai Annis. Congrats Dominique! Iceland sounds like a great place to develop even further your skills on defence considering how well their defence performed at the Pinatar Cup. That makes 5 PWNT players peforming for top flight clubs in Scandinavia now.
A few observations on the Philippines Iceland game. I noticed that Coach Staj rested many of the starters including Eggesvik and Guillou and instead started and liberally substituted a host of alternates. I think he was giving a final test on who among the nearly 30 to 35+ players that are competing for spots will be able to contribute in the World Cup and other international tournaments moving forward. Winning or keeping the goals against down was secondary to the need to identify which players deserve a spot moving forward. The roster needs to be cut down for the Olympic qualifiers in April and many of these players either strengthened or weakened their chances of being called up for that tournament as well as the World Cup as a consequence of their performance in the Pinatar Cup. One bright spot in an otherwise dismal result for the Philippines in the Pinatar Cup is that Randle seems to have earned a contract for a top flight club in Iceland due to her excellent performance showing that she can physically handle and shut down international caliber attackers from higher ranked nations like Scotland, Wales and Iceland.
PWNT centerback Hali Long included on the Best 11 in international play this week by Total Football Analysis https://www.instagram.com/p/Co7O_ehLeSV/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
I find it annoying when US and Chinese fans on social media regularly ask our young prodigy Chayse Ying to join their respective national teams despite the fact she has decided to commit to the Philippines. Now they are even asking his father to convince her to do the same.
Stanford U commit Kaiya Jota, Notre Dame U commit Chayse Ying, and Pepperdine U commit Ari Salvador at the airport on their way to Manila for the #FilipinasU20 National Team Training Camp Good luck girls! Hopefully you can upset powerhouse China in the AFC U20 qualifiers despite less than 2 weeks of training together.
Ari Salvador's senior heavy Hart High School just won the CIF Southern Section Division 2 Girls Soccer Championship defeating powerhouse Harvard Westlake the same high school that defeated Chayse Ying's Flintridge Prep on PK shootout a couple of weeks ago.
PWNT defender Reina Bonta has signed with the club of one my favorite players of all time(Pele) in Brazil for 2023. Congratulations Reina. Santos is a top flight club in Brazil which has the best Women's League in South America. It will improve Reina's technical skills for sure. A Brazilian club usually wins the women's version of Copa Libertadores(South American club championship) practically every year. "The #MermaidsoftheVillage have confirmed the hiring of another international reinforcement. This is 23-year-old North American defender Reina Bonta. The defender is the 11th athlete signed for 2023. Reina started soccer as a child, and entered Yale University College, where she played college football for four years, through 2021. The following year, he played for the San Francisco Nighthawks. Philippines-born father's daughter, Reina chose to play for the Philippine National Team, and with the Asian National Team, she achieved an unprecedented feat, qualifying for the World Cup."
FIFA Women’s World Cup Trophy Tour Philippines where members of the PWNT and U20 WNT participated. https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=760525188649469
Reina Bonta is the 2nd PWNT centerback to sign with a top flight pro team since the Pinatar Cup with Dominique Randle signing with Thor/Ka in Iceland. That leaves only co captain Hali Long(who plays for Kaya FC Philippines) who was named to the Best 11 in international play in last week's February games by Total Football Analysis and 5'10" Maya Alcantara who is in grad school in Georgetown U the only centerback contenders who have yet to sign a top flight contract abroad. Queen Bonta as she is nicknamed by Santos fans on social media is also an aspiring film Producer/Director/Photographer who produced and directed her first film last year for several Asian Film showcases last year in the US.
Meet Reina Bonta, the newest foreign hire of Sereias da Vila." On Wednesday afternoon, the Mermaids of the Village announced another international signing, the American defender Reina Bonta. At only 23 years old, the athlete is the 11th athlete hired for the 2023 santos women's team. The defender has been in football since childhood, and played football in a Ivy League, Yale University, for four years until 2021. In 2022, he played for the San Francisco Nighthawks. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, but with her father being from the Philippines, the player chose the Asian national team to act, and wearing the Philippine jersey, she achieved an unprecedented feat: the qualification for the 2023 World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand between July and August. Despite being a defender, the athlete began her career as a midfielder, and now as a defender, told a little about his characteristics: "For most of my career, I played as a midfielder. Now as a defender, I feel comfortable with the ball, having a good view of the game. I'm a relentless advocate, and I don't give up any moves," Reina said. Reina said that playing for Santos FC is a dream come true, and is eager to debut in Vila Belmiro: "I am privileged to be here in Brazil and in this great Club. Santos FC is a legendary team with an unparalleled track record. As a child, I learned to play with passion and creativity, and I think this will help me in this new experience, because it fits with Brazilian football" https://meupeixao.com.br/2023/03/co...a-contratacao-estrageira-das-sereias-da-vila/
The Philippine U20 girls side will face the China U20 WN in their first game in the AFC U20 qualifiers on Mar 8. This is going to be tough. The China U20 team(all pros) have been playing as a team in the 2nd Division of the Chinese Women's Pro League since the start of the league while the Philippines(all amateurs) only got their team together last week. Only one team will qualify to the 2nd round so the PW U20 team has no choice but to get a result if they want to advance to the next stage. Final Roster
Not too optimistic. They have a talented roster but lack of preparation has always been an Achilles Heel for Philippine youth teams in this kind of competitions which handicap them against stronger teams from Asia that like forming their teams months before the actual competition. China's U20 WNT in particular usually makes the final four of this competition on a regular basis. The important thing though even if we don't advance to the next round is the coaching staff headed by PWNT Assistant Coach Arrarte gets to evaluate who among these players deserve to be considered for the senior team. Many of the U20 will most likely be called up for the SEA Games in May which will be held outside the FIFA window as most of the senior team play for professional teams abroad and will probably be not released so basically this tournament is an audition for prospective players for that tournament which in turn can affect their chances of making the WWC roster. One of the heralded players Grace Thao who is a member of the USWNT youth team pool and former captain of the US U16 national futsal team was also a no show at the last minute.
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. https://www.philstar.com/sports/202...e-splash-afc-u-20-womens-asian-cup-qualifiers
Reina Bonta our new signing in the top flight in Brazil with Santos FC is also an aspiring film director, producer and photographer and her first film was about a girl exploring her Filipina identity in the US called "Lahi" or Race in Filipino which won awards in film festivals in the US including Oscar Awards qualifying venues like the LA Femme International Film Festival (Los Angeles, CA), Twin Cities Film Festival (Minneapolis, Minnesota), and Hawai’i International Film Festival (Honolulu, HI). Here she is giving an interview about her film wearing a traditional Filipina attire for women (although a bit more revealing at the back from what I have seen in pics than those worn in more conservative Philippines). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ODJV3UHbm8 Her Filipino born father who is the current Attorney General of California is also a competitive soccer player who also played in the NCAA for Yale University in college.
As expected the Philippines U20 WNT team lost to Asian powerhouse China in their first game but made it up by winning the 2nd game against Laos 2 days later. The most impressive players for the Philippines are our goaltender and Stanford commit Kaiya Jota particularly when the team was under siege from China's dynamic attacks and 17 y.o. prodigy and Notre Dame commit Chayse Ying who despite not scoring so far has been very active on offence. Here is a compilation of Chayse's highlights as compiled by her father during the game against Laos. Click the facebook link to access the video. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=5794334280634992 I definitely think she is good enough to play for the senior team.
Indeed there were a lot of other promising young players on the team too and we will probably get to see many of them in the SEA Games in May since the tournament is outside the FIFA calendar which will prevent most of our senior team players from being released by their clubs. What impressed me the most in the game against Laos was their ability to keep possession of the ball nearly the entire game despite being a woman down(due to a red card on our GK) for 80+ minutes by relying on their effective and attractive short passing game.
The Philippine Under-20 Women’s National Team notched their first win in the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup 2024 qualifiers after a 1-0 win over Laos U20 WNT last Friday 10 March 2023 at the KM16 National Stadium in Vientiane, Laos. The win was the Philippines first win since 2012(mainly because they usually don't participate in this tournament) when the country defeated Hong Kong in the then AFC U19 Women’s Championship qualifiers which was held in Manila in 2012. Defender Kylie Yap scored the marginal goal for the Philippines in the 42nd minute, which had to play with 10 women for the most of the match. Kaiya Jota was given her marching orders in the 10th minute. The goalkeeper was adjudged to have handled the ball outside the box, after a shot attempt from Laos. Substitute goalkeeper Alexis Tan came on to replace Elaine Pimentel for the rest of the match Despite going a woman down, the Filipinas U20 side did not waver. Isabella Flanigan almost made it 1-0 midway the first half, but she was flagged for offside. With minutes left in the first half, Yap struck gold. Yap was there to head the ball past the goalkeeper after an inviting free kick from Sabine Ramos on the right flank. Holding a slim lead in the second half, the Philippines pressed on for a second goal, but chances from Flanigan and Chayse Ying failed to add gloss to the scoreline. Nevertheless the Philippines held on to secure the win and move to second place in Group A with three points. The Philippines will play their final match of the qualifiers against Hong Kong on Sunday 12 March 2023 at the same venue. pff.org.ph/2023/03/10/afcu20wac-qualifiers-philippines-u20-1-0-laos-u20/
Winning goal against Laos by Kylie Yap https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Q6Y4D949kBY and post game interview
FT Philippine U20 2-2 Hongkong U20 Philippines finished in 2nd place in the group with a 1-1-1 record. Decent result as this same HK team defeated the Thai U20 team in a friendly 1-0 a few weeks ago. Philippine U20 - Hongkong U20 highlights FT Philippines 2-2 Hongkong Goals by Dizon and Pasion. Starting lineup: Tan, Hawkins(Yap), Dizon, Markey, Maniti(Go), Oca, Ramos(Lucban), Pasion, Pimentel(Bicierro), Flanigan(Ying), Salvador. Parenthesis are subs replacing the starters at some point in the 2nd half. Chayse Ying was rested and only fielded in the 2nd half after playing every minute in the first 2 games as part of the team's rotation. I thought our starting goaltender Kaiya Jota could have done better on one of those goals that Alexis Tan gave up that was a bit too high for her to reach. Kaiya's formidable height at 5'10" and reach would have been given her a good chance of deflecting that high ball.
Good fight back by the team after being down a goal against HKG... as previously mentioned, this group of players has a lot of potential and promise and they remain intact and are exposed to more international games... Just some takeaways during this U20 campaign... a bit disappointed with the performance of Chantelle... she's committing errors that she's not supposed to commit at her level... and these mistakes have proven a little costly for the team (one or two goals, and the red on Kaiya)... I'm happy to see that despite the limited preparation, they are trying to keep possession and move the ball from the back even against China... you can still see though them being a little rattled when being pressured, leading to them hurrying passes or just hoofing it forward... but I hope with more games down the road, the team will eventually mature and be more composed... Our backline though needs some improvement, and they are shaky when they are bombarded with attacks... on the first game, our starting RB was constantly attacked and over ran, they did improve though game-after-game. Good results considering the preparations... and again very promising as long as the remain intact and have more games under them... I can see Kaiya challenging for that No. 1 shirt even at the senior level in the near future or even soon (I've noticed a dip in Olivia's performance, reaction time and awareness... lack of a team and match fitness I think is starting to affect her performance)... she knows when to challenge and go out (unfortunate with the red though which I still think was a bit unclear from the replays)... BTW, I hope Kylie's injury is not to serious... saw in his dad's vid that her right knee is swelling from that collision with the HKG keeper... she's one of my favorites in this team... performed well at RB/RW...
Next up for the U20 WNT is the AFF U19 Women's Championship in July if it pushes thru that might include Australia's formidable U20 WNT team and 2 other AFF teams(Vietnam and Myanmar) who made the 2nd round of the AFF U20 Women's Championship qualifiers as well as the traditionally strong Thai U20 team. Hopefully some players who were under consideration for this team(particularly on defence where they were very inconsistent) but whose passports were not yet available when the roster was announced would be added for that later tournament in July. Many of the players will probably also be called upon in the SEA Games in May for the senior women's team because many senior women players will be busy with their pro clubs abroad and won't be released for this tournament that is outside the FIFA calendar. I am sorry to hear about Kylie's injury. I hope it is not serious. Her passion and dedication was very evident in the Laos emotional post game interview where she scored the game winner.