SAN PEDRO DEL PINATAR, Spain – The Philippines Women’s National Team clashes with another European powerhouse in Scotland on Saturday, looking to improve on its performance two days ago in the 2023 Pinatar Cup here.
While Filipinas coach Alen Stajcic lauded his team’s defensive performance in the 0-1 loss to Wales, he admits there is plenty of room for improvement when the Filipinas have possession.
Scotland, the winner of the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2020, is coming off a 0-2 loss to Iceland in their opening match, conceding two quick goals early in the second half last Wednesday.
AFF Women’s Championship top scorer Sarina Bolden and midfielder Jackie Sawicki are already in the camp, giving Stajcic more options for selection. Sawicki’s last game for the PWNT came in the AFF finals last July against Thailand.
Both Bolden and Sawicki arrived to camp less than 48 hours before the first match against Wales, ruling them out of the game as they try to recover from the long journey from Australia to Spain. The duo trained last Thursday.
Europe-based players Meryll Serrano and Katrina Guillou only played in the second half of the match against Wales as they played for their clubs just before the international window opened a few days ago.
“A lot of things to look forward in the next week and hopefully we can freshen the squad up for Game 2 and see how we go against Scotland who are as good as a team or even better (than Wales),” said Stajcic.