Long time starting centerback and captain Hali Long was also not available for this tournament and camp. With the emergence of Katana Norman at right back and former Matilda Angela Beard at left back we have managed to fill several of the positional weaknesses in the back identified from last year's WC team. It would be nice if Seattle's OL Reigns starting centerback Sam Hiatt would commit to the PWNT but she might still harbor hopes of being called up for the USWNT. She would solidify a promising and solid back four particularly if Aston Villa's starting left back Maz Pacheco also finally commits as well as she has hinted she might do in the future.
Decent group for the Philippine U17 in the AFC Women's U17 Cup draw the other day avoiding favorites like Japan, Australia and China. They need to upset one of the Koreas to advance to the semis. Only the top 3 make it to the FIFA Women's U17 WC so they still need to win at the least the bronze to qualify for that event.
Last game in the Pinatar Cup against Slovenia was tough for Sarina Bolden. She was being triple teamed.
Fil Canadian U17 standout Ava Villapando has obtained her Philippine passport and was called up for next week's training camp in preparation for the AFC U17 Women's Championship in May.
Korea to face Philippines in in early April friendlies The Korean women’s national team will play two friendlies against the Philippines on April 5 and 8 at Icheon Sports Complex in Icheon, Gyeonggi, the Korea Football Association announced Monday. Korea to face Philippines in in early April friendlies (msn.com)
30 #FilipinasU17 are participating in a training camp in the U.S. in preparation for #U17WAC which will take place in Bali, Indonesia from May 6-19.
U20 - Oca, Ying U17 - Pino, Mathelus, Sia Finally exciting youngsters Ying, and Mathelus will have their potential debut for the seniors if called upon to play. Serrano call up announced via club but not on the official roster at the moment. Surprisingly absent is Katana Norman who played well in the Pinatar Cup, Alexis Jr (Osasuna) and starter Jaclyn Sawicki (Western United). New Names - Baker & Carpio
Apparently even though Rhea Chan was in the Pinatar Cup in Spain, she never got to play since she got injured just before the final match against Slovenia while warming up for her debut. Hopefully she gets a chance in S Korea. https://www.times-standard.com/.../former-jacks-soccer.../
I am looking forward to seeing the possible debut of exciting youngsters 18 y.o. Notre Dame freshman Chayse Ying and 15 y.o. Nina Mathelus on the national team. Interestingly Chayse Ying has her own page on IMDb as an actress appearing on several shorts produced by her father actor/producer Jerry Ying. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4126398/ Chayse Ying highlights in high school
FT S Korea 3-0 Philippines Chan and Mathelus made their debut for the Philippines and performed well. The former started on defence and the latter who got subbed late in the game replacing Sarina Bolden even at 15 y.o. didn't look out of place at this level. Some of the veterans on defence (like Long, Harrison and Cowart) committed mistakes or were having a hard time keeping up with the Korean attackers so it is good to see young players like Chan in this game and Norman in the Pinatar Cup last February play well and prove that they can be solid options if the veterans continue to falter.
Since Sarina Bolden(50th cap last game) won't be available in the 2nd friendly against S Korea, I expect 15 y.o. Nina Mathelus to get more playing time. In limited minutes in the 1st game she proved even at her young age that she can play at this level with her exceptional speed allowing her to keep up and create space for herself in the few times she received the ball as a forward. I hope to see fellow junior player Chayse Ying and some of the other teens (Oca, Sia, Meollo, Pino and Baker) make their debut for the senior team and get some playing time in the 2nd game.
2nd friendly FT. S Korea 2-1 Philippines Angie Beard scored her first goal. The Philippines nearly tied before the end of the game. Rookie Chan started again and played well. Nina subbed 2nd half also played well
Philippine Women's National Football Team · #FilipinasU17 head coach Sinisa Cohadzic summoned 30 players for the final training camp here in Manila ahead of next month's #U17WAC in Bali, Indonesia.
I believe newcomer goalkeeper Gabrielle Baker was part of the U15 USWNT training camp in January of 2022. It is nice to see her commit to the Philippines U17. They have a lot of depth and experience at goalkeeper with her addition. As a result Xoey Tamparong who also did well in previous camps didn't make the team. Defender Aiselyn Sia is also part of the USWNT U17 pool and was recently called last year for their training camp.
FT Philippines 6-1 Indonesia 1-6 Alexa Pino 7' 36' Jael Marie Guy 22' Ariana Markey 29' Natalie Collins 53' 62' Indonesia's lone goal was scored by Indo German Claudia Scheunemann who has had experience in the Bundesliga U17 and is already a member of the Indonesian Women's National Football team. Interestingly the Philippine U17's former leading goal scorer 15 y.o. Nina Mathelus (who is tied overall for 2nd most goals in the AFC U17 qualifiers) only came in as a sub in the 2nd half and had plenty of opportunities but was unable to finish hitting the bar twice. There were plenty of new additions that made their debut in this game for the Philippines including starting goalkeeper Gabrielle Baker who played for the US U15 WNT, Jael Marie Guy and Natalie Collins who all contributed in this match. This is a much stronger and deeper team than the one they sent to Spain where they had close matches with England and Sweden. Next up is North Korea which dominated S Korea 7-0. I predict that the Philippines will play a defensive counterattacking style so they can contain N Korea's dangerous attacking forays.
@Lohmann @datschge The Adidas rep is all over the Philippines women's team in Indonesia as their long term sponsor. Interestingly Puma not to be left behind just signed a 4 year contract with the Philippines men's team at all levels. German commercial sports rivalry is alive and well in the Philippines.
FT N Korea 6-0 Philippines The N Koreans definitely look older than the rest of the field. The third game against SKotea will determine which team advanced to the semis.
You can't hide U17 age fraud before MRI scan, question is does AFC use this? (it's mandatory for FIFA U17 men's competition, dunno about AFC or women's tourneys)
Philippines ladies really seemed to struggle mounting any kind of attack. Speed of the Korean team was an obvious advantage. Minus a couple of GK errors, the match seemed pretty one sided.
That was intentional. They basically followed the same game plan against England in Spain last February and that is to bunker up. They even rested according to the coach some of their best forwards like Alexa Piano to save them for the deciding game against S Korea. I also thought the Philippine GK Baker committed some errors. She is actually relatively new to the team but her credentials as a former attendee at the US U15 WNT camp in 2022 allowed her to jump over Hughes and Bradley who previously competed creditably against England and Sweden holding them to respectable 0-2 and 0-1 loss margins. Of course that doesn't take from how well N Korea played. They pretty much dominated both their group matches