PFF to join ‘make or break’ meeting to send U-23, women’s teams to SEAG

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Football Federation will try its best to convince the task force handling the screening of the country’s entries in the 27th Southeast Asian Games to give its under-23 and women’s teams and its futsal squads the green light to join the contingent when it presents its case before the body on Wednesday.

PFF president Nonong Araneta and general-secretary Ed Gastanes will attend the “make-or-break” meeting with the task force.

“We’re ready to justify the inclusion of the teams. We’re ready to submit documents and answer questions from the task force,” Gastanes told this writer.

The U23 Azkals, the Malditas and the men’s and women’s football bets are fighting for their places in the delegation to Myanmar as the Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission have expressed preference for individuals who have the potential to snare medals.

In last Wednesday’s general assembly, the POC gave the PFF some sort of a lifeline by setting a “one-on-one meeting” with the federation, as well as other National Sports Associations seeking to catch the bus to the Myanmar meet.

“We feel very strongly that football teams should be given the opportunity to represent flag and country. These teams have been training continuously and we see them as potential medalists, especially the U23 and the women’s team,” said Gastanes.

Both the U23 Azkals and the Malditas are beefed up by players based overseas. Gastanes believes the current batch is stronger than the ones which competed in the 2011 edition in Indonesia.

“Our women’s team is in fact the strongest we’ve ever had, primarily because of the mix of local and foreign-trained players,” he said of the Malditas, who are having a training camp in the US preparatory to their campaign in the Asean Football Federation Women’s Championship in October in Mandalay, Myanmar and also the SEA Games proper in December.

He recalled that when the Malditas played regional power Thailand in the AFC Asian Women’s Cup qualifiers last May, they lost a close 0-1 decision.

The U-23 Azkals, for their part, played their Singaporean counterparts in an international friendly last June and dropped a 0-1 verdict. The PFF exec noted that the Singaporeans paraded the core of the Lions XII club in the M-League against a team that didn’t have the Azkals mainstays at that time.

“Our under-23 is stronger than the team two years ago and we’ve formed the nucleus of the team earlier than usual, six months before competition which gives them enough time to prepare,” he said.