By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

THE Year 2017 proved to be a landmark one for local football marked by notable achievements and events that officials hope to build on in the brand-new year.

In its Christmas message posted on its official Web site, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), the association in charge of affairs in the sport in the country, detailed the highlights of the year just passed as far as football goes while at the same expressed hope that 2018 will be another solid year.

Foremost of the highlights of 2017 was how the Philippine women’s national team qualified for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2018 to be played in Jordan later this year.

In the qualifier held last year, the Filipina footballers made a huge impression with a quality performance, booking three wins, one draw and one loss for 10 points and good to advance to the prestigious continental competition for the first time since 2003.

The Malditas will begin their quest in the Asian Cup in April where they are lumped in Group A along with Jordan, China and Thailand. The teams will play each other once and the top two squads advance to the knockout round along with those from Group B — Japan, Australia, South Korea and Vietnam.

If the Philippines manages to move to the semifinals, it automatically qualifies for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019 in France.

Also gearing up for greater heights is the national men’s team which is currently in pole position in its grouping in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers.

The Azkals are sporting a record of two wins and three draws with nine points and for good measure just have to win in their final game against Tajikistan here at home in March to formalize their entry into the Asian Cup.

Trailing the men’s team in the qualifiers are Tajikistan (2-0-2) and Yemen (1-3-0), which are tied at second spot with six points apiece.

Also making waves last year was the Philippine Girls Under-15 National Team, which again clinched a runner-up finish in the AFF Girls Under-15 Championship in May.

The PFF also touted the programs and initiatives it was able to set up in 2017 which are all geared toward the further development of the sport in the country.

Among them were the numerous FIFA and AFC coaching courses it had which were designed to give local coaches more “tools” in dispensing their duties and at the same time inspire others to make a career out of coaching.

The PFF Football Turf Field was also inaugurated last year. Funded by world-governing body FIFA, the newly built field will serve as the nucleus of the planned National Football Center in Carmona, Cavite.

The Year 2017 also saw the birth of the first national professional league, the Philippines Football League.

Planned and organized by the PFF with help from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA, the PFL saw eight pioneering clubs play a total of 112 Regular Season matches and six Finals Series matches with Bacolod-based Ceres Negros FC eventually being crowned inaugural champion.

In closing the message, the PFF, through President Mariano V. Araneta, Jr. and General-Secretary Edwin B. Gastanes, expressed its gratitude to all those which helped it make 2017 the kind of year it was and said it hopes to gain more help from various stakeholders in what it expects to be another busy year in 2018.

“We would like to thank everyone who have helped us reach where we are today. This year (2017) has been a year to remember and we expect that next year will be another busy year for Philippine football,” the message read.

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