“With Albert Roca and Dimas Delgado joining Coach Carles Cuadrat on our national team’s coaching staff, we are reinforcing PFF’s commitment to world-class coaching and player development. Their experience, tactical expertise, and shared vision with Coach Carles Cuadrat will be invaluable as we aim to elevate the Philippines’ performance in the Asian Cup Qualifiers, with our aim to re-enter the main tournament.” – PFF President John Anthony Gutierrez
The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) will bring in the services of Spanish coaches Albert Roca and Dimas Delgado to the coaching staff of the Philippine men’s national football team (PMNFT) headed by Carles Cuadrat.
The three have worked with each other as players and coaches in Spain and in India, ensuring cohesion, camaraderie, and a similar passion for excellence in the PMNFT staff.
Albert Roca
The 62-year-old Roca has an extensive football career in different positions as physical coach, head coach, and technical consultant in different clubs and national teams all over the world since 1997.
He is a former head coach of the El Salvador national team from 2014 to 2015, and assistant to Dutch legend Franklin Rikjaard in the Saudi Arabia national team, and for F. C. Barcelona in Spain’s La Liga and Galatasaray S. K. in the Turkish Super Lig in the 2000s.
Roca and Cuadrat have a close professional relationship, working together before in Galatasaray, the national teams of El Salvador and Saudi Arabia, and Indian top Super League team Bengaluru F. C.
Roca immediately made an impact in India, towing Bengaluru to the final of the 2016 AFC Cup (now Asia Champions League 2) and becoming India’s first club to reach the final of a continental championship.
In the domestic level, Roca towed Bengaluru to win India’s Federation Cup in 2017 and reach the final of Indian Super League that year.
Cuadrat became the Head Coach of Bengaluru in 2018 after Roca came back to Barcelona to be the Barça fitness coach in Ronald’s Koeman project. Cuadrat grap the opportunity and make Bengaluru FC champion of the Indian Super League in his first season leading the team.
In 2023, Roca had a second stint for Bengaluru as technical consultant.
Dimas Delgado
Like Cuadrat and Roca, the 42-year-old Dimas was born and raised in Spain’s Catalonia region and helped Indian and other countries in Asia in their football development.
An accomplished midfielder, Dimas had a playing career that spanned 21 years. He played for several Spanish clubs, most notably Barcelona B in the mid-2000s, where he was captain of Pep Guardiola’s first team as a coach and scored ten goals. He also played for C.D. Numancia in 2008, where he appeared in more than 20 games in the Spanish La Liga’s first division. After that, he played professionally in the Spanish second division for over 200 games with Huelva, Cartagena, and again with Numancia.
Dimas went on to captain the Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australian A-League from 2015 to 2017, playing for a team coached by Tony Popovic, the current Socceroos head coach. He then became a key player for Bengaluru FC from 2017 to 2021, under the guidance of coaches Albert Roca and Carles Cuadrat. As captain, Dimas led the team to victory in the 2018 Indian Super League, securing the first trophy of Cuadrat’s head coaching career.
Returning to Spain for his final playing year with C. F. Montañesa in 2023, Dimas flew back to India and began his coaching career as assistant to Cuadrat for East Bengal F. C. from 2023 to 2025, also being an essential part to reach the second trophy in Cuadrat career as Head Coach, when they both lift the Indian SuperCup 2024 for East Bengal FC.
Full circle
The intersecting careers of Cuadrat, Roca, and Dimas will go full circle with PMNFT this month in preparation for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers October 2025 window versus Timor-Leste on October 9 in Darwin, Australia, and October 14 in the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.
PFF President John Anthony Gutierrez is confident that such a cohesive coaching unit will sharpen the team further.
“PFF is focused on pushing Philippine football to a forward trajectory,” Gutierrez said.
“The gains we have accumulated from 2024 will not be put to waste; we will ensure incremental progress of our football programs because we are very eager to build the Philippines as a strong football force in Southeast Asia and beyond,” he added.