TO ensure the continuity and stability of the national men’s football team in international play, the Philippine Football Federation announced late Wednesday the promotion of Spanish tactician Carles Cuadrat as head coach and Mico Gutierrez as the new manager of the national side.
“We are pleased to welcome coach Carles Cuadrat to lead our senior men’s national team. His deep tactical understanding, coupled with a history of building winning teams and developing players, perfectly aligns with our vision of the future,” said PFF president John Gutierrez in a statement.
“We saw a glimpse of his (Cuadrat’s) immediate impact during the Tajikistan match, demonstrating his ability to inspire and adapt under pressure,” noted Gutierrez of how the mentor steered the Filipino booters to a 2-all draw against the powerhouse Tajiks in their AFC Asian Cup qualifying match last June 10 at the New Clark City Stadium in Capas, Tarlac.
The impressive outcome was achieved in his first match calling the shots for the Nationals just a few days after Spanish compatriot Albert Capellas stepped down as the head coach due to “personal reasons.”
National team manager Freddy Gonzales followed suit a week after the PH-Tajikistan draw, compelling the PFF to look for a successor, which it found in the younger sibling of Gutierrez, Mico, currently the president of the National Capitol Region Football Association.
Cuadrat, 56, who has a UEFA Pro coach license, was a colleague of Capellas at the famed Barcelona Football Academy.
He was the mentor of Bangalore-based Indian club Bengaluru, piloting it to the India Super League Super Cup title in the 2018 season and a breakthrough ISL Championship the following year, before leaving the club in 2021.
Most recently, he guided East Bengal FC to the 2024 Indian Super Cup title before joining Capellas as a deputy on the PH squad, which resumes its campaign in Group A of the AFC Asian Cup qualifying series on Oct. 9 against Timor Leste.
The PH footballers currently lead the four-team group that also includes the Maldives with four points, with one win and one draw, ahead on goal difference by two goals over second-running Tajikistan, which has also the same number of points.
The Timorese, who beat Maldives 1-0 in Darwin, Australia, are in third spot with three points while the Maldivians are in the cellar with two losses, one of them a 0-4 lacing from the Philippines.
The group topnotcher in the home-and-away series will advance to the 2027 Asian Cup to be hosted by Saudi Arabia.
A former football varsity skipper for the UP Maroons, the younger Gutierrez continues to support the PFF Center of Excellence in NCR and was also the national team manager of the PH Under-16 squad that captured the recent Lions City Cup trophy in Singapore.
“We thank Mico for taking on the important role of managing the Philippine men’s national team,” said the PFF chief.
“The PFF is confident that with his (Gutierrez’s) experience and expertise in football and business management, he will be able to bring our men’s team towards the direction we’ve set out to do from the very beginning – to build on the (past) gains and keep on advancing in the international stage,” he added.
