Euphoria is at an all-time high for the Philippine Women’s National Team after its historic achievement of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2023 through securing a semi-finals ticket at the expense of Chinese Taipei in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022.
After fulfilling the unimaginable dream of making it into the World Cup, it is easy to forget that the job is not yet done for the Filipinas in the Asian Cup. Ranked 18th in the FIFA World Rankings, South Korea is the next giant whom the Philippines shall compete against and it promises to be another exciting contest.
“Funny you asked that because we had a discussion last night about resetting goals.
“It just can’t come from me — it can’t be a coach-driven aspect of everyone’s mentality,” Stajcic told CNN Sportsdesk. “It really has to be a group vying on what we really want to achieve together as a group.”
The last time the Philippines took on South Korea in a competitive contest was on April 16, 2018, during the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2018 in Amman, Jordan. The Filipinas had a long day at the office as they succumbed 0-5 with current Tottenham Hotspur player Cho So-hyun securing a brace.
Hopefully, things will be way different this time around.
Photo from The-AFC.com
“We’ve got an important match against South Korea, who are extremely tough opponents – they beat Australia the other day, who are probably the favorites for the tournament. So, it is a difficult challenge in terms of mindset,” said the 48-year-old former Central Coast Mariners mentor.
“Are we gonna say that that’s enough or are we gonna push ahead and really strive and go that one step forward — one massive step forward to try and beat one of the powerhouses of Asian football? Lots to talk about in a day or two with the group in resetting that focus and mentality for this next match.”
Provided he and his staff get the well-deserved contract renewal, Stajcic and his team need to get used to competing toe-to-toe against powerhouse teams of the continent and around the world. The challenge may be daunting but it is one he is very ready to take on.
“It still sounds good doesn’t it: qualified to the World Cup, no matter how many times you say it. My assessment is we played four matches now, eight different halves of football, and in six of those halves, we have not conceded a goal. And that truly, at this level, an amazing level of performance and consistency that shows that we can be a really difficult team to beat,” said the former Australia coach.
“And even in the extra time, in the 30 minutes, we limited Chinese Taipei to very, very few chances and to half-chances at that. So we have proven that we can be a very difficult team to beat. The next level of improvement and involvement for this group will be what we do with the ball and become a really dominant team with the ball as well. I think we’ve done okay with the ball, but certainly, that’s the biggest of the game that we have left to improve moving on to the next 18 months for the World Cup.”
Perhaps anything that happens from this point onwards will be treated as a bonus by Stajcic and his players.
Considering that this is just their first tournament together, they demonstrated what a master tactician can achieve as long as he and his wards have ample time to prepare together. Standards shall be way higher from this point onwards.
“You never know what you’ll get when you started out, but certainly that was the goal since Day One. And when we set that goal as a group, it wasn’t just my goal, it was a goal from the whole playing group. And if you have a goal you have a target and something you want to achieve. If we didn’t have that goal, what are you striving for,” he said.
“So the players said about sacrificing everything in their lives for the last three months to ensure and give ourselves every possible opportunity. And sometimes you achieve your goal, sometimes you don’t, but certainly, we raised the bar of expectations not only of ourselves but also the whole Philippine football fraternity.”
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