Four Filipinas are plying their trade in the prestigious league.
Quinley Quezada and Jessika Cowart tasted their first win in the Liberty A-League in Australia after Perth Glory defeated Western United, 2-0, last Saturday.
The two mainstays of the Philippine women's national football team were recruited by the club in the offseason after their historic stint in the FIFA Women's World Cup last August. It was a welcome reunion with Perth Glory coach Alex Epakis, who was part of the scouting staff of the Filipinas in the prestigious tournament.
In a report by Matt Comito of the A-Leagues website, Quezada and Cowart said they're proud of the impact they made in the Philippines by representing the flag on football's grandest stage.
“Just being there felt like a one-in-a-million thing, and then scoring a goal feels like another one, and then winning a game was just the cherry on top. It made the experience all the more exciting and special. After that, you saw just how much of an impact football, and especially women’s football, has on the country," said Cowart.
Sawicki, the team captain of Western United, meanwhile, said the experience will forever stick to her memory.
The success of the Filipinas has created a wider following among Filipinos, as proven by the massive support they had in the FIFA Women's World Cup, with dozens of watch parties sprouting in different parts of the Philippines.
Now that they're strutting their stuff in Australia, along with Sawicki and Filipinas top scorer Sarina Bolden, more Filipinos are expected to find interest in the Liberty A-League.
As Comito noted in his report, the thought isn't lost on Quezada and Cowart.
“I think the best thing about Filipinos is they’ll come into any community and make it their home. Having Jaclyn, Sarina, and everyone in the A-League, the fans are going to take it over," added Quezada. “Especially here with JC and I, they will definitely celebrate, they will cheer for the A-League now as well."
“It’s crazy. Any little thing that happens is the next big story. There’s such a big Filipino population here too, so they were super excited to have us come here and move here," said Cowart.
It remains unclear if Quezada and Cowart will be released by Perth Glory as the Filipinas battle in the second round of the Olympic qualifiers later this month. What's clear though is that they will have the support of Filipinos no matter what, no matter where.
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"Even when it was only Jaclyn, Sarina, and Angie (Beard) here (in Australia) they were like: ‘We need more Filipinas in the league!’ And on social media, they’d just go crazy about the A-League or any team that posts about us. So we definitely have their support," said Quezada.