Bringing the entire Philippine Malditas national women’s football back to the Philippines is in the works, with Australian coach Alen Stajcic looking forward to make this happen.
The plan is taking place now that FIFA women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand is 16 months away.
“It will be a fantastic opportunity for the team to be on home soil. We got a lot of planned activities for this,” said Stajcic in a huddle with scribes on Zoom.
Last month, the Philippine Football Federation worked on a deal to have Stajcic stay on as head coach. He will be in charge when the Philippine national women’s football team prepares for the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam.
A training camp, according to Stajic, could happen by July, after the Southeast Asian Games, and just before the ASEAN Football Federation women’s championship in Manila.
This will also involve players from the Philippines and the others who were not able make it to the training camp in Irvine, California in November, due to travel restrictions.
Details of the camp are still being worked out with the PFF, according to Stajcic.
“We are having constant contacts with some of the players who were not able to travel to the US,” added Stajcic.
Stajcic is bringing in his staff with the Malditas, including assistant coach Nahuel Arrarte and strength and conditioning coach Luca Tonetti.
The Filipinas, who lost to Korea Republic in the semifinals of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India, finished in joint third with Japan in the tournament won by China. They qualified to the World Cup with Vietnam, which took fourth spot via the repechage rounds during the qualifications.
