NATIONAL men’s football team deputy coach Norman Fegidero has praised how national team manager Freddy Gonzalez handled the departure of Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet, who left the Pinoy booters to return to Africa and handle the Malawi side despite having a live contract with the PFF.
“Saintfiet had a contract with the national men’s football team for several years but opted to leave. Gonzalez could have taken (legal) action in what was an obvious breach of contract but did not. That shows a lot of character for you,” Fegidero said in a chance interview at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Philippine Football Federation, and Gonzalez in particular, quickly found a replacement for Saintfiet, who was unable to win a single match during his stint with the national men’s side, in Spanish tactician Albert Capellas, who began with the B team La Liga powerhouse Barcelona FC.
“Malaki ang kaibahan ni coach Tom and coach Albert. You could see it right away in the way he handled our players when we were in the Merdeka Cup,” noted Fegidero of the brief time the mentor had with the Pinoy booters during the Malaysian tournament.
He said Capellas is the same coach that nurtured Spanish football great Andres Iniesta, a two-time European and 2010 World Cup champion when he was with the Barcelona B team from 1999-2003.
Together with PFF president John Gutierrez and Gonzalez, Capellas and Australian Filipinas coach Marc Torcaso will grace a press conference today where they will discuss their plans for the forthcoming tournaments.
Capellas, 56, will make his coaching debut with the Pinoy squad in the King’s Cup set from Oct. 8 to 14 in Bangkok, Thailand while Torcaso, 43, whose contract was extended by the PFF, will continue calling the shots for the Filipinas in the Pink Ladies Cup from Oct. 21 to 30 in Antalya, Turkiye.
The Spanish coach will also be piloting the Nationals in the Mitsubishi Electric Cup in December where they will seek to regain prominence after falling early in the group stage in the 2022 edition.
Starting in 2010 when they first made their semifinal breakthrough in the regional men’s football showcase, the Filipinos have reached the semis four times, the last in 2018 under Swede coach Sven Goran-Eriksson.
