Philippines to play in Group B of AFC Women’s Asian Cup

The Philippine women’s national football team will play in Group B of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 happening in January.

The groupings were known following the official draw on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The national team is lumped along with Australia, Thailand and Indonesia where it hopes to go deep in the tournament and vie for an historic FIFA World Cup qualification in 2023.

Former Australia coach Alen Stajcic will steer the Philippine women’s team in the Asian Cup after being named early this week.

He replaced Marlon Maro at the helm and will be turning to his vast experience in international play, which includes a five-year stint with the “Matildas,” the moniker of the Australian squad, that saw them qualify for the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, where the team reached the quarterfinals.

Joining Mr. Stajcic is assistant coach Nahuel Arrarte.

The Philippine Football Federation is currently in the process of finalizing the team’s preparation for the Asian Cup that will see it hold tryouts and training in California beginning November.

The other groupings, meanwhile, have India, China, Chinese Taipei and Iran in Group A and defending champion Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Myanmar in Group C.

The AFC Asian Cup format calls for the top two countries from each of the three groups making the last eight together with the two best-ranked third placed teams. – Michael Angelo S. Murillo