AIMING to beef up the rosters of the national women’s football and futsal teams for international play this year and beyond, the Philippine Football Federation will hold separate identification and training camps for both of them this month.
The management of the Filipinas announced on its social media platforms last week that it has called up 31 players for the training camp to be held under Australian mentor Mark Torcaso from Feb. 17 to 26 at the new SM Mall of Asia football field in Pasay City.
Among the new faces are forwards Autumn Cayelli and Mallie Ramirez, defenders MaliaCerdon and Kaela Hansen, Nya Harrison, midfielders Ivymae Perez and Emma Tovar and goalkeeper MaysenVeronda.
Recalled to the squad were goalkeepers Olivia McDaniel, Nina Meolo and Inna Palacios, who turned 31 last Feb. 8, defenders Angela Beard, Jessika Cowart, Janae Defazio, Hali Long, Ariana Markey, JaimemariaTurrentine, Sofia Wunsch; midfielders Sara Eggesvik, Kaya Hawkinson, Alex Pino, Quinley Quezada, Camille Sahirul, Jaclyn Sawicki; forwards Sarina Bolden, Alessandra Carpio, Carleigh Frilles, Katrina Guillou, Chandler McDaniel and Meryl Serrano.
Absent on the roster was forward Isabella Flanigan, who played a vital role for the PH women’s futsal squad winding up as the best third-ranked team in last month’s AFC Women’s Asian Futsal Cup qualifiers in Tashkent, Uzbekistan last month to book a spot in the main tournament in Hohhot, China in May.
“We leave it to the PFF national teams department led by Freddy Gonzales how to best handle the player personnel for both teams, knowing that it is always in the best interest of the country for whatever competition they see action in,” PFF president John Gutierrez said.
Torcaso is priming the Filipinas for the possible staging of the AFF Women’s Championship towards the latter part of 2025 where his charges will seek to defend the crown they won in epic fashion at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in 2022.
They are also scheduled to play in the 33rd Thailand Asian Games in Bangkok in December as well as the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, the qualifying competition for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, in March in Australia next year.
The Filipinas training camp will be highlighted by an intrasquad goodwill match on Feb. 25 at the 1,800-seat SM MOA football arena.
The PFF will also stage a series of national team tryouts in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao from Feb. 15 to 16 in Cebu and followed by the next slated Feb. 17 to 18 in the city of Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte, where women’s futsal is extremely popular, according to Gutierrez.
The third leg of the tryouts will be held from Feb. 19 to 20 in Davao before the last of them will be scheduled Feb. 22 to 23 in the National Capital Region before winding up with an intensive training camp for the promising national team hopefuls from Feb. 24 to 28.
Spanish coach Rafa Rodriguez, the architect of the successful campaign of the Filipina5 in the AFC Women’s Asian Futsal Cup qualifiers and who arrived last week after a short break, will be back in harness to supervise the tryouts, Gutierrez said.
Those who make the grade will be included in the side that will compete in the AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup set for May 6 to 17 in Hohhot, China, which will serve as the qualifying competition for the inaugural FIFA Women’s Futsal World Cup that the country is hosting in November.
