Filipinas. Photo from PFF
Coach Alen Stajcic and the Philippines women’s soccer team are looking forward to taking on another highly-rated opponent, Costa Rica, as the two nations kick off a two-match friendly on Saturday (Manila time) with a match against Filipinas. play on the away field.
Stajcic talked about the match that took place at 9 am (Manila time) at Estadio Alejandro Moreta Soto in the Costa Rican capital San Jose.
That will be another test for the Filipinas after a 1-2 defeat to New Zealand last month in Fullerton, California.
Filipinas has accepted to face teams higher in the Fifa standings, a move that Stajcic sees will bolster his charges before they plunge into next year’s World Cup to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand .
Stajcic believes the outlook is positive for the nation’s supporters ahead of the World Cup draw scheduled for later this month in Auckland, New Zealand.
But the Australian-born mentor also wanted the Filipinas to take their game to another level.
“We now know that we can compete with countries like New Zealand,” he said. “The next step is to start beating these higher ranked teams.
“With a few injuries and sick spells on the team this week, it will be a great test of our depth and flexibility on the team.”
The familiar faces that have made the trip to Costa Rica are Sarina Bolden, Katrina Guillou, Quinley Quezada and Liv McDaniel.
Costa Rica is ranked 37th in the world and qualified for the 2023 World Cup through the Concacaf W.
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