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Post by cjeagle on Dec 20, 2022 22:11:34 GMT 8
𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗖𝘂𝗽 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 READ: pff.org.ph/.../filipinas-to-face-european-teams.../The Philippine Women’s National Team will see action in a competition in Europe for the first time as the Filipinas vie in the Pinatar Cup 2023 from 15 to 21 February 2023 in San Pedro del Pinatar in Murcia, Spain. Sustaining their buildup for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Filipinas will be facing higher-ranked European sides Wales, Scotland and Iceland in the Pinatar Cup 2023. The Filipinas’ first match will be against 32nd ranked Wales on 15 February. Their next opponent will be 25th ranked Scotland on 18 February, before they wrap up their campaign against 16th ranked Iceland on 21 February. All matches will be played at the Pinatar Arena Football Center in San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain. Scotland qualified to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019, but missed out on next year’s tournament. Wales and Iceland have yet to qualify for the FWWC. “Competing in the Pinatar Cup is a great opportunity for the Filipinas to familiarize themselves with European teams ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup,” said PFF president Mariano Araneta, Jr. “It’s definitely a big help to the team’s preparations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.” PFF general secretary Atty. Edwin Gastanes expressed gratitude to tournament organizer IAST Sports for including the Filipinas in the roster of teams for this year’s competition. The FIFA window in February is a Type II window where teams can play a maximum of three matches. “We thank IAST Sports, led by its CEO David Vailing, for extending their invitation to the Philippine Women’s National Team in the Pinatar Cup,” said Gastanes. “It will be exciting to see our Filipinas play against strong teams from Europe.” Filipinas team manager Jefferson Cheng said the matches will allow the coaching staff led by Alen Stajcic to gauge the team’s readiness in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. “We are leveling up our preparations for the FWWC and the team will benefit playing against stronger more experienced teams,” said Cheng. The Filipinas will be playing in Europe for the first time since June 2022 when they won back to back friendly matches against Bosnia Herzegovina in Slovenia. The Filipinas are slated to face Switzerland, co-hosts New Zealand, and Norway in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
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Post by cjeagle on Feb 2, 2023 15:58:13 GMT 8
news.stv.tv/sport/scotland-reveal-25-woman-squad-for-pinatar-cup-in-spainScotland have named a strong 25-woman squad for the upcoming Pinatar Cup in Spain. Manager Pedro Martinez Losa has named all of his squads top stars, including Real Madrid’s Caroline Weir, Chelsea’s Erin Cuthbert and Claire Elmslie, who now plays for Angel City in the USA. West Ham’s Lisa Evans, Emma Mukandi from and Christy Grimshaw, who plays for AC Milan in Italy, all return after missing the last camp. Uncapped Jamie-Lee Napier could make her first senior appearance after she was included in the squad for the games against Iceland, Wales and the Philippines. They will use the four-team tournament to prepare for their forthcoming UEFA Nations League campaign. Scotland missed out on this summer’s World Cup after a playoff defeat to the Republic of Ireland at the end of last year. Pinatar Cup squad: C Arthur (C Palace), F Brown (FC Rosengard), J Clark (Glasgow City), K Clark (Celtic), R Corsie (Aston Villa), E Cumings (Liverpool), E Cuthbert (Chelsea), L Davidson (Glasgow City), N Docherty (Rangers), C Emslie (Angel City), L Evans (West Ham), J Fife (Rangers), L Gibson (Glasgow City), C Grimshaw (AC Milan), K Hanson (Aston Villa, on loan from Man Utd), A Harrison (Bristol City), B Hay (Rangers), S Howard (Leicester), J-L Napier (London City Lionesses), S Kerr (Rangers), E Mukandi (Reading), C Murray (Birmingham), K Smith (West Ham), Martha Thomas (Man Utd), C Weir (Real Madrid).
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Post by cjeagle on Feb 3, 2023 1:18:20 GMT 8
PH women's football team bares lineup for Pinatar Cup The Philippine women’s national football team has unveiled its lineup for the coming 2023 Pinatar Cup, which is part of its preparations for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Kiara Fontanilla, Olivia Davies-McDaniel, and Inna Palacios were selected by coach Alen Stajcic for the Filipinas' goal keeping duties. The defensive backline will consist of Maya Alcantara, Alicia Barker, Reina Bonta, Jessika Cowart, Malea Cesar, Sofia Harrison, Hali Long, Eva Madarang, and Dominique Randle. The midfielders are composed of team captain Tahnai Annis, Anicka Castaneda, Sara Eggesvik, Carleigh Frilles, Reinna Gabriel, Kaya Hawkinson, Camille Rodriguez, Jaclyn Sawicki, and Meryll Serrano. Sarina Bolden, Isabella Flanigan, Katrina Guillou, and Quinley Quezada will be the team forwards. The Filipinas are scheduled to square off with Wales on February 16 in San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain. This will be followed by a match against Scotland on February 18 and Iceland on February 21. news.abs-cbn.com/amp/sports/02/03/23/ph-womens-football-team-bares-lineup-for-pinatar-cup?fbclid=IwAR2JlTFJaoMzR6Pv5T_a5lq0NLQM_xfAygkCK_JwPzwsAXygS4YrQZ44Ba0
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Post by cjeagle on Feb 9, 2023 5:36:49 GMT 8
Gemma Grainger has stuck with experience in naming her squad for Wales’ upcoming Pinatar Cup campaign, the first competitive matches the team will face since their agonising World Cup qualifying play-off final loss to Switzerland in October.
The 27-woman squad is headlined by tried-and-tested trio Jessica Fishlock, Sophie Ingle and Angharad James. Wales’ record-goalscorer Helen Ward and Kayleigh Green both retain their spots, while Leicester City’s Hannah Cain, Liverpool’s Ceri Holland and Tottenham Hotspur’s Esther Morgan return after recovering from respective injuries.
Grainger has recruited just one new face in Bethan Davies, with the 25-year-old Sheffield United goalkeeper set to meet up with the squad midway through the campaign as Manchester United goalkeeper Safia Middleton-Patel will depart to feature in Wales under-19s’ mini-tournament in Portugal.
Wales squad in full Goalkeepers: Laura O’Sullivan (Cardiff City Ladies), Olivia Clark (Bristol City), Safia Middleton-Patel (Manchester United), Bethan Davies (Sheffield United)
Defenders: Rhiannon Roberts (Liverpool), Charlie Estcourt (Birmingham City), Hayley Ladd (Manchester United), Josie Green (Leicester City), Gemma Evans (Reading), Lily Woodham (Reading), Esther Morgan (Sunderland - on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders: Sophie Ingle (Chelsea), Anna Filbey (Crystal Palace), Angharad James (Tottenham Hotspur), Jess Fishlock (OL Reign)
Forwards: Ceri Holland (Liverpool), Megan Wynne (Southampton), Kayleigh Green (Brighton & Hove Albion), Helen Ward (Watford), Elise Hughes (Crystal Palace), Georgia Walters (Sheffield United), Carrie Jones (Leicester City - on loan from Manchester United), Hannah Cain (Leicester City), Rachel Rowe (Reading), Ella Powell (Bristol City), Alice Griffiths (Southampton), Maria Francis-Jones (Sheffield United – on loan from Manchester City)
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Post by benzgm on Feb 17, 2023 18:05:12 GMT 8
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Post by cjeagle on Feb 23, 2023 11:03:01 GMT 8
FT Scotland 2-1 Philippines
Decent result for the Philippines against a much higher ranked team but still a lot of work to do for them before the World Cup. Merryl Abrahamsen's free kick goal late in the game keeps the deficit to just one goal.
A couple of observations. The Philippines lack of height against European opposition combined with their inability to keep possession hamstrings their offence a lot. Normally they use their height to dominate ASEAN teams particularly when it comes to corners and free kicks but against taller European teams they are the ones losing those battles.
A team can offset their lack of height if they can keep possession and create plays based on a short passing game as demonstrated by many South American teams as well as clubs like FC Barcelona but unfortunately the Philippines inability to keep possession doesn't allow them to use that aspect of the game to offset their lack of height.
Finally I thought that Olivia McDaniel needs to find a club. She doesn't play professionally. I think her lack of playing time outside of the games played by the Philippines just doesn't provide her the reps to keep her sharp and make the appropriate decisions in game.
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Post by cjeagle on Feb 23, 2023 11:05:16 GMT 8
Philippines - Scotland highlights
The Philippine-Scotland match stats showed that Scotland had most of the possession but in terms of shots(9-5) and shots on target(4-3) the disparity wasn't that big. The Philippines had missed opportunities of their own that went begging as they pressed high on offence instead of just bunkering like you would expect a much lower ranked team(#53 vs #25) would do.
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Post by cjeagle on Feb 23, 2023 11:06:30 GMT 8
A few observations.
Despite the loss there were a lot of positive moments in the game. They pressed high in the first half and not just bunkered up and still held Scotland to only 2 shots in goal while having their near chances on offense too.
Of course when the Scots added Real Madrid's Caroline Weir and other starters in the 2nd half, their play suddenly improved. Nevertheless the Philippines only conceded another goal and got one back late in the game.
A few recently added players also shown brightly in the game including Merryl Abrahamsen who scored the lone goal for the Philippines and right back Alicia Barker who was arguably the best Philippine defender in this game.
The defence was generally solid and if they could add a good defencer like Angela Beard(who excelled in the top flight in Denmark and is doing the same in Australia's A League) to shore up the left back position when she gets her passport they would be even harder to score upon.
A few other players might also be good additions to the mix moving forward including some of the junior U20 players participating in the AFC U20 qualifiers next month particularly our 17 y.o. prodigy Chayse Ying who can add an element of offensive flair generally lacking in our attack.
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Post by cjeagle on Feb 23, 2023 11:08:11 GMT 8
Post match interview by Scotland's coach: www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1279487966304469He described it as a game of 2 halves where Scotland were under pressure and uncomfortable for most of the first half and were having difficulty making plays. They did better in the 2nd half but also conceded a free kick late in the match.
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Post by cjeagle on Feb 23, 2023 11:09:36 GMT 8
Iceland 5-0 Philippines
Complete domination by Iceland. The Philippines were taught a lesson on so many levels including proper use of their height advantage, physicality, ball possession and management, speed and accuracy.
I thought the first 2 goals were kind of weak and preventable as our goaltender who doesn't play games outside of training camp looked rusty and out of sorts but the final 3 were well deserved after some patient buildup and heads up play.
The absence of 2 of the Philippine's best players, Sara Eggesvik and Katrina Guillou hamstrung them a little bit on offence but regardless the way Iceland''s defence shut down any forays the Philippines it might not have been enough anyways. Even the usually physical Sarina Bolden was being outmuscled and outpositioned by one of Iceland's husky defenders.
Congrats to Iceland for winning the Pinatar Cup.
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Post by cjeagle on Feb 23, 2023 11:10:08 GMT 8
A few observations on the Philippines Iceland game.
I noticed that Coach Staj rested many of the starters from the first 2 games including Eggesvik, Guillou and Barker and instead started and liberally substituted a host of alternates.
I think he was giving a final test on who among the nearly 30 to 35+ players that are competing for spots will be able to contribute in the World Cup and other international tournaments moving forward.
Winning or keeping the goals against down was secondary to the need to identify which players deserve a spot moving forward.
The roster needs to be cut down for the Olympic qualifiers in April and many of these players either strengthened or weakened their chances of being called up for that tournament as well as the World Cup as a consequence of their performance in the Pinatar Cup.
One bright spot in an otherwise dismal result for the Philippines in the Pinatar Cup is that Randle seems to have earned a contract for a top flight club in Iceland due to her excellent performance showing that she can physically handle and shut down international caliber attackers from higher ranked nations like Scotland, Wales and Iceland.
Newcomer Alicia Barker also proved her mettle on defence possibly winning the starting position at right back shoring up a position that needed an infusion of depth for us. She started the first game in the Pinatar Cup but didn't play in the third game as Coach Staj used the last game to test other players.
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