Philippine Women's National Football Tryout in the US

You only have been around here a few years so don't go lecturing you on what is posted on this threads. The college forums have always had threads related to the national teams particularly the US all the way back to before MLS was established and the US national team consisted of amateur college players who trained together as a team to compete in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

I even posted a link to a thread on the men's college board that listed college players on foreign national teams. This has always garnered interest on this forums when soccer struggled to gain a foothold in the US.

 

Thanks. I sometimes get inquiries on the forums and via PMs from college coaches and players in this forum expressing interest in our national team so there definitely is interest out there on how these college kids fare at the international level.

Anyways this thread only gets busy when there is a tryout or tournament ongoing that the Philippine national women's team participates in. The rest of the time it dies down so the next time it gets busy again after the AFC Asian Women's Cup is over is at the FIFA Women's World Cup next year assuming the Philippines qualifies of course.

 

FT Philippines 6-0 Indonesia

2 goals were by the Philippine captain and former All American Tahnai Annis who seem to be well known here as one of the all time best players to come from the Florida Gators(38 goals in 96 matches) when that team was one of the best in the US NCAA.

Now 32 y.o.(the oldest player in the national team) she is looked upon to help lead the Philippines to the FIFA Women's World Cup next year which considering her age might be her last chance to do so.

Dominating performance(31-1 shot advantage, 61%-39% possession advantage) by the Philippines with numerous substitutions allowing almost the entire roster to get a chance to play and resting the starters for the all important knockout quarterfinals against Taiwan. A win in the quarters qualifies them for the FIFA Women's World Cup.

 

The Philippine team kind of reminds me of the US national team team prior to the 1994 World Cup. The US team under a Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic didn't have an established professional league back then to draw players from so they brought together a bunch of college all stars and US heritage pro players from abroad and trained them like a professional club giving them the time to gel that national teams normally do not have with regular friendlies to keep them sharp allowing them to become competitive enough by the the time the World Cup was held to get out of the group stage losing only to Brazil 0-1 in the knockout stages.

The Philippines (which only has an amateur women's league and colleges to draw players from at home both of which unfortunately was suspended the past 2 years due to COVID) has only been together for a few months(since November) but Coach Stajcic(also of Serbian heritage) has succeeded in molding a united organized competitive unit out of a bunch of mostly amateur college and elite high school recruits with a few pro players(playing for clubs in Europe and Japan) added in a very short period of time allowing them to be competitive against international teams manned mostly by professional players. Their friendlies consisted of playing against top amateur and semi pro clubs in California many of which had international level national team CONCACAF players(Mexico, El Salvador, etc.) among them.

The Philippines also had a large number of players(100+) tryout at the beginning of training camp in November mostly from elite high school and current NCAA players and graduates as well as the few Philippine based national team players who managed to hurdle rigorous COVID travel restrictions to make it to training camp in California allowing for some intense internal competition between the players at camp with gradual cuts(described by one of the national team players who made the final cut as placing them on edge all the time) paring down the final roster to the final 23.

 

Just a US fan who happens to like the Philippine team. I see a lot of parallels to what they are accomplishing now to when soccer in the US was struggling to gain a foothold in the US back when the only soccer played in the US were in the colleges and before the success of the US women at the 1999 Women's World Cup elevated the status of the sport on the distaff side to a whole new level.

And you and L'Orange don't have to read my posts if you don't want to. This thread will die down soon enough anyways.

 

Philippines had to go to OT and PK but wins it on sudden death PK. Taiwan missed the final 3 PKs. Philippine goalkeeper even scored a PK.

Congrats Philippines! They qualify for the very first time to the FIFA Women's World Cup. Mission accomplished.

Well deserved win in my opinion as they dominated the stats. 25-11(13-3 on target) in shots and 56-44 in possession.

Hopefully this has the same impact for football in their country as the 1994 WC did for the US finally giving the sport the boost they needed to elevate interest in the game in a country where basketball gets all the attention and the funding.

Next up S Korea in the semifinals of the Women's Asian Cup.

 

Incidentally Australia was upset by S Korea in the quarterfinals resulting in the Philippines facing the latter instead of Australia in the semis. The other semi final match in the Women's Asian Cup is between Japan and China.

There are a lot of questions in Australia being asked about their current coach Gustavsson considering the man he replaced Stajcic(who has had a lot of success coaching Australia bringing them to their highest FIFA ranking at #4) just led the Philippines to the semifinals.

 

I am sure they will have more tryouts. They always do that when they have training camps either at home or abroad.

California though is the perfect place for them to have a training camp at this time as the pandemic and lockout in the Philippines limits opportunities for movement and training and don't have the availability of quality opponents they can skirmish with that California has.

It also allows more opportunities for many US based elite high school and college players to participate in the tryouts and is also easier for Canada and Europe based players to join the camp. They had more than 100 players trying out last November for instance.

However they will also have more chances to get friendlies now with other countries from all over the world now that they are in the WC. However they have to outweigh the dangers of getting Covid when that happens as demonstrated by the Vietnam team that had a host of players turn Covid + a couple of weeks before the Asian Cup while training in Spain.

Maybe the US or another CONCACAF country will play them now if they keep their training base in California. They didn't have any friendlies with countries during training camp last November but they faced many national team members from Mexico, El Salvador and other CONCACAF nations in their regular weekly skirmishes with mostly WPSL clubs over there.

They will also keep an open eye on any other pros from Europe who might want to join the team particularly Cathrine Graversen who has played for the Philippines in the past or potentially Mayumi Pacheco who is a member of the English national team pool but hasn't played for the English senior team since her U21 appearance back in 2019.

The latter has played and started here entire career in the English top tier for Liverpool, West Ham United, Reading and currently Aston Villa and would add a lot of experience to the Philippines if they can convince her to switch sides. England is very deep at her position so she could conceivably look to the Philippines to get a chance to participate in the FIFA Women's World Cup.

 

Some of our players based in the US have been wanting to play for the Philippines since they were 12 y.o. as this Australian writer explained:

https://thefootballsack.com.au/2022...las-incredible-path-to-matildas-showdown.html

The Philippine's third goalie Kiara Fontanilla's first cap(which she waited nearly a decade to attain) was against Australia whom she shut down for 52 minutes. Her performance impressed some of the Aussie press so much they wrote an article about her.

As for the starting goalie today, Olivia McDaniel not only did she stop the last 3 PK by Taiwan but she calmly stepped up and scored a goal herself on the 5th PK. This is what she had to say about it.

"To be honest, I was more nervous to stop the PKs than to take the PK. No nerves when I step up to take a PK because I know it's gonna go at the back of the net."

 

Soccer America has taken notice of the Philippines qualifying to the World Cup for the first time and emphasized the heavy US college influence on the team.

https://www.socceramerica.com/publi...orld-cup-philippines-qualifies-for-first.html

I am sure many US soccer fans would be interested in finding out how they do in next year's World Cup particularly if they support the colleges many of their players are currently playing or graduated from.

 

I understand but I have been on bigsoccer(and it's predecessor soccerboards) long enough to know that more fans appreciate this kind of thread than get annoyed by it.

This thread was meant to inform college players and coaches of the potential tryouts for the Philippine women's national team available for eligible players in the US NCAA so it definitely belongs on this forum.

Considering the encouraging messages in the past I have received in similar threads inquiring about the team and the hundreds of players who have indeed joined the tryouts in California, I think it has helped succeed it it's purpose of delivering that message.

Since you are from Oregon, you might even be interested to know that an Eastern Oregon University goaltender Kiara Fontanilla has gained enough global attention that even the Australian press are writing articles about her impressive performance against their team on her very first cap and her particularly interesting human interest story on her nearly decade long journey(which started when she was only 12 y.o.) to gaining it.

https://thefootballsack.com.au/2022...las-incredible-path-to-matildas-showdown.html

As I posted and linked above even the men's college boards have threads discussing international team players on their various colleges some of which I linked above and they don't seem to be particularly annoyed about it.

This thread will die down soon enough when the tournament ends anyways.

 

I deliberately don't post many of the articles on the international boards here so as to avoid information overload.

This thread is meant to inform US and Canadian women's college coaches and players how the Philippines women's national team is doing and that they are recruiting eligible players from their ranks to help strengthen the team.

 

In case anybody was wondering whether the trials in California had an impact in helping the Philippines make the FIFA Women's World Cup, here is what Coach Alen Stajcic (who led Australia to it's highest ranking at #4 in the FIFA Women's rankings as their former manager) had to say about it:

It was an eclectic mix that Stajcic was working with. He had some pro squad members flying in from Sweden, Japan, Spain and Cyprus. Others were aligned to schools and college teams.

And some of the players who trialled, during an “eye opening” quest to find gems from outside the squad, ended up becoming part of his XI.

“It was really, really, bizarre to see a national team conducted in this manner,” he reflected.

“It was almost akin to a local youth program – see who would turn up and if you can find anyone.

“(Some became) key players within the group and starting players. A bizarre, difficult, unusual process but it reaped a few results.”

https://keepup.com.au/news/a-miracl...-stajcic-on-the-best-experience-of-his-career

Some of those key players(a few of whom are current college players or grads from the NCAA) started out as trialists in California last October, made the final 23 and proved their worth by holding 11th ranked Australia to a standstill for 50 minutes in the AFC Asian Cup group stage and helped qualify the Philippines to the semifinals in the Asian Women's Cup as well as a berth to next year's FIFA Women's World Cup.

 

PFF retains Stajcic as PWNT braces for Women’s World Cup buildup

Australian coach Alen Stajcic, who guided the Philippine Women’s National Team to a historic qualification to the FIFA Women’s World Cup last month, has signed a new contract that will keep him and his staff with the PWNT until the 2023 Women’s World Cup jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

PWNT team manager Jefferson Cheng made the announcement Friday after Stajcic, 48, agreed to an extension in a meeting in Sydney last March 1.

Assistant coach Nahuel Arrarte and strength and conditioning coach Luca Tonetti will also remain with the team, Cheng said.

With Stajcic at the helm, the Filipinas reached the semifinals of the AFC Womens Asian Cup in India for the first time after beating Chinese Taipei on penalties. The Filipinas, who lost to Korea Republic in the semifinals, finished joint third with Japan in the tournament won by China.

“The next 18 months will be challenging for all of us at the PWNT as we do our best to prepare for the FIFA Women’s World Cup,” said Cheng. “We are all motivated, hopeful and looking forward to giving our best for the nation.”

Cheng thanked Stajcic “for continuing on this journey with the PWNT.”

Stajcic described his first stint with the PWNT as one of the best experiences of his career.

“I’m delighted to continue our journey with the Phillippine Women’s National Team through to the World Cup,” said Stajcic. “The Asian Cup performances were remarkable and phenomenal, but to share it with a group of staff and players that exemplified humility, gratitude and passion for the (Philippines) shirt is what really made it special. I’m extremely excited to help lead the team in the next chapter as we head for the pinnacle of our sport.”

Stajcic’s next task is to lead the Filipinas in the Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam in May. The Filipinas will also see action in the AFF Women’s Championships in Manila in July before vying in the Asian Games in China in September.

PFF president Mariano Araneta and PFF general secretary Atty. Edwin Gastanes are pleased to have Stajcic on board as the Filipinas prepare for the FWWC next year.

“The PFF is honored to continue working with a truly world class coach in Alen Stajcic whose professionalism and attention to detail have been instrumental in raising the level of the PWNT,” said Araneta. “The team’s performances in India showed that he is the best coach to also lead us in our first FIFA Womens World Cup appearance.”

“Coach Alen Stajcic showed that the Philippines can be a top-caliber team in the women’s game,” said Gastanes. “We are very delighted that he has committed to the team as it prepares for several women’s competitions this year in the build up to the World Cup.”

https://pff.org.ph/2022/03/04/pff-r...pmaMuyPdHVgEqR46mu4f4kz67anjb-jHyhcQ5ohuZ7vnw

BTW, one of the Philippine NCAA grads(Dominique Randle) who was invited in last November's training camp, made the team and became an invaluable member of the starting lineup at the AFC Asian Cup has been invited to tryout for the NWSL’s Angel City.

She wouldn't be taking up one of the 4 international slots available for a NWSL team since she was born in Seattle and holds American citizenship as well.

https://tiebreakertimes.com.ph/tbt/pwnfts-dominique-randle-signs-with-angel-city/233312

This is an example of how national team exposure in the Philippine national women's football team can open up professional career avenues for NCAA soccer players and grads.