Philippine Football Federation general secretary Atty. Edwin Gastanes yesterday thanked the Philippine Sports Commission for allowing the PFF to stage the Group A matches of the Filipinas in the AFF Women’s Championship 2022 at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium
“On behalf of PFF president Mariano Araneta Jr., the PFF would like to express our gratitude to PSC executive director and officer-in-charge Atty. Guillermo Iroy for allowing the use of the Rizal Memorial Stadium as a main venue of the AFF Women’s Championship,” Gastanes said.
“Thanks to the collaboration and cooperation of the PSC, we are now able to bring the games of the Filipinas closer to their hometown fans, inspiring them to do better with each performance inside this heritage-rich football arena,” the PFF general secretary noted.
“The PFF and the PSC have been key partners in the promotion of the beautiful game in the country with the Rizal Memorial Stadium as the venue of the matches of our national teams, including the Azkals,” Gastanes added. “We continue to look forward to this fruitful partnership with the PSC.”
“We hope that our local fans will continue to flock to the Rizal Memorial Stadium in droves and cheer for the Filipinas, hopefully, all the way to the championship match while achieving another milestone for themselves and the country,” he exhorted.
Before the AFF Women’s Championship, the last time the historic venue was used for the sport was the 2019 30th Southeast Asian Games football men’s and women’s football tournaments.
Thanks to the animated rooting of the hometown crowd, which has been growing steadily in numbers with each passing day, the charges of Australian coach Alen Stajcic have remained in front of the pack in the highly-competitive Group A.
The Filipinas remained firmly on top of the group with nine points in crushing Malaysia 4-0 last Friday for their third straight shutout win, and can clinch the first semis seat should they beat Indonesia tomorrow, Sunday, in front of an anticipated well-attended weekend crowd.