The Philippine Women’s National Football team is ready to take flight in their first tournament of the year ahead of their much-anticipated FIFA women’s world cup debut.
The Filipinas are set to see action in the
This is the Philippines’ first year competing in the Pinatar Cup. It will mainly serve as a tune-up for the Filipina booters who will be facing higher-ranked opponents in the 2023 FIFA world cup which include co-host New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland.
Apart from gaining experience, the competition will also serve as a chance for the players to prove their worth after they earned their spots in the national lineup for the World Cup.
“Every tournament is special," Inna Palacios, the Filipinas’ goalkeeper said. "Every tournament we treat it as if it's a world stage like the World Cup. Reason being is we want to challenge ourselves every time and we want to get better from where we were. We're only as good as our last game.”
“Having more tournaments before the World Cup," she coninued, "it will help us get our feet wet. And it will kind of train us to go through that pressure and overcome that pressure.”
Co-captain and defender Hail Long described the added pressure of competing before the World Cup as a privilege.
“We always say on the team that pressure is a privilege to have, and privilege is not something a lot of us have here," Long said. "Being a female athlete in any part of the world is super hard. It is all about your passion. It's all about your love for what you do."
“The pressure kind of melts away if you remind yourself why you're doing it, why you're here and obviously who you're doing it for and it's for our country,” she added.
On Thursday, the team also welcomed a major boost to their World Cup bid after inking a five-year partnership with sportswear giant Adidas that will see them clad in fresh uniforms and equipment on football’s biggest stage.
“As I understand with [Philippine Football Federation Secretary] Attorney Ed [Gastanes], this is possibly one of the longest contracts he signed with a brand and we hope to be with the team for the next Women's World Cup," Adidas Philippines General Manager Anthony Frangos said.
"So, it's not a short-term deal, hopefully,” he also said.
Team Forward Sarina Bolden said the Adidas deal would grant the Filipinas a sense of professionalism.
“The time that I've been on the team we would be wearing nothing, no logos and sometimes just bringing our own things…" Bolden shared. "To kind of have a brand like Adidas, we kind of garner some respect in a way.”
“It really brings that professionalism to the team," she also said, "and just being a partner with Adidas, I think they're going to help us you know, for the next four years and hopefully more to come.”