Filipinas head to Australia for SEA Games preparations

The Philippine Women’s National Team (PWNT) will go by the name “Filipinas” from now on.

With the team’s long and challenging buildup to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup about to start, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) confirmed the decision to exclusively use “Filipinas” to identify the team that will be making its debut in the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.

Said team manager Jefferson Cheng, “It (“Filipinas”) is simple and nationalistic. Our athletes are Filipinas. They are strong-willed, determined, passionate and driven by the goal to represent not just themselves, but the country.”

He added that all relevant parties recognized that, as the PWNT steps into football’s biggest stage, it was not appropriate to continue using a monicker with negative connotations in large parts of the world. “We trust that Filipino football fans will understand and support this decision,” said Cheng.

Emphasizing the need for ample preparation, the PWNT arrived in Australia Wednesday to link up with coach Alen Stajcic and his staff for the FIFA window on the first week of April.

The Filipinas, who vaulted to their highest ranking of No. 54 last Friday, are slated to play a couple of international friendlies against Fiji on April 7 and 11 in Sydney. The Filipinas will be in training camp in Sydney, where Stajcic is based, until early May, before flying to Hanoi, Vietnam for the Southeast Asian Games.

“It is crucial that the team gets as much time as possible to prepare,” emphasized Cheng. “We hope that the work put in on this camp will bring great results in the upcoming tournaments.”

Cheng has been serving as the Filipinas’ manager and sponsor since 2018, when they came within a win from reaching the 2019 Women’s World Cup. He continued to support the team in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games hosted by the country.

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cheng kept his commitment to the team, fully backing the team’s preparations for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in Uzbekistan and later in the AFC Asian Cup in India, where the Filipinas made history with a first ever semifinal finish that came with a World Cup berth.

PFF officials are leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that the Filipinas, with the continuous support of Cheng, will continue to make history.

“Together with our team manager Jefferson Cheng, the PFF is here to make sure the team will go to every competition as well prepared and fit as possible,” said PFF president Mariano Araneta. “We look forward to seeing the Filipinas represent the country again when they return to action this April as they prepare for the SEA Games.”

“Our Filipinas realized the dream of every football fan in the country when they qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup,” added PFF general secretary Atty. Edwin Gastanes. “They will always have our all-out support.”

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