Stajcic delighted as World Cup-bound Filipinas ink pro deals abroad

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine women's national football team head coach Alen Stajcic is elated with the news that more of his players have signed deals with professional clubs abroad in the past weeks.

A little over two months removed from their historic win at the AFF Women's Championship, players with active contracts with clubs have increased, with Jessika Cowart (Serbia), Jaclyn Sawicki (Australia), and Sofia Harrison (Germany) all announcing transfers to various clubs.

Putting premium on getting year-round football action on the pitch, Stajcic believes that the development will help the Philippines in the long run.

"Yes, certainly it's a massive, massive point of contention within our group," Stajcic said during a media availability with Philippine media on Monday morning.

"When we went to the Asian Cup back in January, from memory, I think we only had three players out of the 23 who were in clubs, and 20 were not. So we're up to six or seven now that have clubs, and hopefully by the time we get to the World Cup, there's many more than that," he added.

Stajcic had underscored the importance of being able to continuously play football even when they are not in the national team.

"The more that are training full-time and have club environments to play matches in, the better off they're gonna be as individuals, and the better off our team would be," he said.

The Filipinas are currently in camp in the US, still as part of preparations for the upcoming 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup next year.

Though the team tries to provide every player on the roster a good training regimen, the Aussie tactician said that nothing beats real football matches in their respective leagues.

"Obviously, especially this year, we've given the players a lot of individual programs when they're not with us, and they've done really well with that. But as you know, training by yourself or training in small groups is not the same as training with a team," said Stajcic.

"They've been really motivated, but I just know how hard that is. So you're right, the more they get into professional clubs, the better off we're gonna be as a national team," he added.

Rounding up the Filipinas with active contracts are Sarina Bolden (Japan), Quinley Quezada (Serbia) and Katrina Guillou (Sweden).

The Filipinas will play New Zealand in an international friendly on Tuesday, September 6 (Wednesday, September 7, Manila time).