Filipina booters' longer road to KO round an edge vs Chinese Taipei, says coach
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine women's national football team head coach Alen Stajcic believes having to play one more match than Chinese Taipei will give the Filipinas an edge as their AFC Women's Asian Cup quarterfinals clash looms on Sunday.
That is, Chinese Taipei only playing to matches to reach the knockout round compared to the Philippines' three is an advantage for the Filipinas rather than for their foes.
According to the Australian coach, the longer road to the knockout rounds has made the Philippines more prepared to go to battle — even if it means going into the match a little more tired.
"Probably the biggest advantage that [Chinese Taipei] have is the fact that the competition lost a little bit of integrity when india withdrew and Chinese Taipei have only had to play two games and we've had to play three games in a short space of time. You can look at that two ways and say that we've got a little more fatigue but also on the flip side of that argument, we're also a lot more match hardened," Stajcic said.
Having to play against Thailand, Australia and Indonesia has positioned the Philippines better in the sense that they are more equipped to play at pace with a team like Chinese Taipei.
Chinese Taipei is ranked higher than the Philippines in the FIFA World Rankings.
But as they've shown in the group stages against Thailand and Australia, the Filipinas don't seem to put any regard to whatever rank their opponent may be -- and Stajcic knows this to be true for his players.
"I'm confident that regardless of who we play, whether that it's a team ranked in the 30s like Thailand were, [or] Australia who's a Top 10 team, Olympic games semifinalists, or Indonesia, that we'll be ready and match hardened and ready to go tomorrow night," he said.
Already with their best performance in the AFC Women's Asian Cup, the Filipina booters look to continue to rewrite the history books as they compete for a slot in the FIFA Women's World Cup — the country's first-ever — and a semifinals berth in the regional tournament as well.
Philippines vs Chinese Taipei kicks off 10 p.m. (Manila time) on Sunday. The game will be aired live on One Sports and One Sports+.
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