The Filipinas have a lot in common with the team they are facing first.
The Philippine Women’s National Football Team (PWNFT) will open its Pinatar Cup campaign at early morning tomorrow, Philippine time, against Wales—the 32nd-ranked team in the world in women’s football.
This opening day match, incidentally, figures to be the Filipinas’ best shot at notching a win in the seven-day pocket tournament as Wales appears to be a team in transition. In fact, it just recently got back together after being off since October, when its World Cup aspirations were dashed in the qualifiers by Switzerland, currently no. 21 in FIFA’s rankings.
Curiously, the PWNFT has a lot in common with Wales than what meets the eye. Most notably, Wales is an up-and-coming team in football, steadily making a big impression in Europe the way the Filipinas are doing the same in Asia. Wales’ rise actually overlaps that of the Philippines. In fact, Wales would have been playing for a spot in the World Cup this week if not for that extra time defeat to Switzerland.
Now, the Welsh are instead competing in the Pinatar Cup—with the ultimate goal of improving even more.
"Obviously, we want to win [the Pinatar Cup], but we have to develop as a team. I think that is potentially more important than winning at the moment,” Wales captain Sophie Ingle told BBC a day before the invitational tournament gets underway in Spain. "The winning will come if we keep developing as a team and working on the things we identified from the last campaign we need to work on.”
That appears to be the Filipinas’ mindset as well coming into the tournament: Try to win but look to learn.
Goalkeeper Inna Palacios, for one, thinks the Pinatar Cup will give the Filipinas’ more insights on how they’ll approach their World Cup preparations. Defender Sofia Harrison, meanwhile, vowed the team will show their growth in a show of supreme confidence.
And so, the stage is set. Two talented, up-and-coming teams looking to get better will get their Pinatar Cup campaigns underway. It should be a good one.
Game time will be at 3:30 a.m. It will be livestreamed on the official PWNFT Facebook page.