MANILA, Philippines – Aussie head coach Alen Stajcic believes the Philippine women's national football team is still "a bit rusty" after playing their international friendly against Fiji in Western Sydney on Thursday.
Despite scoring a 7-2 rout against their opponents as part of their preparations for the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi next month, Stajcic believes it was still not the best they could do.
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The Filipinas coach pointed to some months of inactivity for some of the players since the 2022 Women's Asian Cup in India last January.
"The result was one thing but we're looking at our performance. There were some good patches, some good moments but we were a bit rusty in some parts just because players were out for two months, not training in a team environment," said Stajcic.
On the bright side, it gave Stajcic the blueprint to work on in preparing the team.
"Overall, it's a good starting point for us," he said.
The Filipinas are grouped with hosts and defending champions Vietnam, along with Indonesia and Cambodia for the biennial games.
With an eye on a podium finish and possibly to win it all, Stajcic aims to bring the team back to the level that they were in India where they played arguably their best in program history.
"We'll be working hard to ensure we get back to the levels where we were during the Asian Cup. We got another match on Monday and three more matches and another two weeks in camp before we fly to Vietnam," said Stajcic.
"It's really good preparation for the SEA Games," he continued.
The team has been in Western Sydney for more than a week now as part of their e SEA Games training camp.
They are expected to stay there until early May before flying out to Hanoi in time for their first game on May 9.