Our biomedical scientist Alicia Barker who finished her graduate studies at U of I Urbana Champaign which ranks high nationally and has an excellent reputation in engineering and the biotech industries, just got an encouraging tweet from her Biotech employer. The Seattle native was good enough athletically to pursue a career professionally in either soccer(along with her good friend and fellow Fil Am Sam Hiatt of the Seattle Reign) or gymnastics but her engineering and scientific talent led her elsewhere. She has started in both games that the Philippines has played so far. The entire company has donned Philippine colors, flags and scarfs in support of the PWNT and has been following her closely. Brawns and Brains is a dynamite combination.
Welcome back and Congrats. I hope you are enjoying our team over there while It is breaking records and making history.
Dernheeeeeeeeeeeeeelm!!! I am so happy to see you here again. And in an awesome moment for your National Team. Please, stop by the Nadeshiko Thread also to say "Hi".
Great run despite the loss. They can continue to build on this in future tournaments with the Asian Games and the 2nd round of Olympic qualifying coming up soon. Most of all it seems they have caught the attention of an entire nation both at home and abroad on the potential of football to serve as a unifying symbol and an inspiration for our young boys and girls to pick up the sport which we used to excel at a century ago.
Thanks for keeping us updated Pelefan. I appreciate it when coverage was tough to find overseas. Hope your updates continue.
Your welcome. I probably won't be posting as often for awhile but I will be back for the Asian Games as well as updates on whether Coach Staj is returning.
Coach Staj and his staff are apparently not returning as they have have informed the PFF that they will be looking at other options.
That was always going to be the risk with the kind of success Staj and his staff had. Maybe Canada is one of the options. However, they may not be able to afford him with all the money problems the Canadian Federation is having.
That was speculation by the club and not a statement of intent by Staj. Last time before renewing with the PFF he said he had offers from European clubs and a few national teams. He said the decision back then to renew with the PFF was a decision of the heart to finish the WC journey he had started with them which he has now accomplished.
Saw on IG that they are on the way back to the Philippines. Is there a celebration of some sort planned?
Was with the parents of one of our players on a flight from Auckland to Sydney, and we had a lengthy conversation. They shared some very interesting information. Also talked with a team insider. Very interesting talk we had.
for the less divisive trivia.. it was AS who selected the design for their Adidas kit... he wanted something simple for the team's first World Cup... he wanted team to prove themselves first... and they can have "better designed" kit on their next/succeeding world cups...
Another Australian will be calling the shots for the Philippine women’s national football team as the Filipinas announced Mark Torcaso as their new head coach on Wednesday. Torcaso is the head coach of the women’s side Western United in the A-League women, a job he will retain while leading the Filipinas. In the A-League, he is the reigning Coach of the Year after steering his team to the finals. The 42-year-old replaces compatriot Alen Stajcic, who is now coaching in the men’s league of the A-League with the Perth Glory. He will first be tested in the upcoming Asian Games in September New members of the coaching staff were also named, with Australian Sinisha Cohadzic as Torcaso’s assistant with the PWNT. He will also serve as head coach of the Girls' Under-17 and Women's Under-20 national team. Meanwhile, former New Zealand international Andrew Durante, who is also part of Torcaso’s coaching staff at Western United, was also appointed as an assistant coach in the Filipinas program. https://www.philstar.com/sports/2023/08/23/2290782/aussie-mark-torcaso-named-new-filipinas-coach
They have started sending out invitations to individual players for the Asian Games training camp in September and so far several youth players have been invited including 14 y.o U17 star Nina Mathelus, 17y.o. WC 3rd string goalkeeper Stanford U commit Kaiya Jota and U20 midfielder Elaine Pimentel
Was informed that Inna announced her retirement from the national team day after Norway game... if true, will be missing Inna from the team... she's been such an integral part of the team...
Many pro players based abroad were not part of the training camp for the Asian Games including Bolden, Eggesvik, Chandler sisters, Beard, etc because of club commitments. Only 8 players from the WC roster made the training camp as a result. On a positive note Zoe Hudson who plays in the top tier in Portugal has obtained her Philippine passport and was invited to training camp.