The next six months will be a hectic time for the Philippine national women’s football team as they get ready for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 later this year in Australia and New Zealand.
Three tournaments and a series of friendlies will get the Filipinas in shape for the biggest games of their lives this July.
Philippine Football Federation secretary general Edwin Gastanes talked about what is in store for the Filipinas during Tuesday’s weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Vito Cruz, Manila.
“This is good preparation for the team, because in May, there’s the Southeast Asian Games also,” said Gastanes.
The football executive bared that the big challenges for the Filipinas will start by March, when they join a pocket tournament in Okinawa, Japan.
The Filipinas are among seven squads taking part in the invitationals.
After that, they will be in the first round of the Olympic qualifiers, to be done in a venue still to be announced from April 3 to 11.
“This campaign will allow them to be much more prepared for the grand stage which is the FIFA Women’s World Cup,” added Gastanes.
The world no. 53-ranked Filipinas have been bracketed in Group E with Hong Kong, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
Next up are the football competitions of the 32nd SEA Games in May at the Morodok Techo National Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 60,000.
By that time, the Filipinas will be in their best shape ever, after they spent a year getting ready for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
