The Philippine women's national football team at the AFC Women's Asian Cup. PFF-PWNFT via PSC
MANILA – The Philippine Women's National Football Team has another daunting task ahead of them, as they compete in the quarterfinals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup.
They will go up against Japan, the highest-ranked team in the tournament and the lone Asian side to have ever won the FIFA Women's World Cup.
The Filipinas qualified for the quarterfinals as one of the best third-placed teams and better score on tiebreak.
As for Japan, they remain undefeated with three clean sheets from the group stage.
READ: Clinical Japan confident of taking down Filipinas at Women's Asian Cup
For Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso, they take pride in reaching the quarterfinals of the tournament, keeping their World Cup hopes alive.
"It's an absolute privilege to be playing against some of the best teams here in Asia but around the world as well," he said during the pre-game press conference on Saturday in Sydney, Australia.
"We're looking forward to this game. We are excited, the girls are very excited and we just want to give out a really good performance for all our fans back at home in the Philippines and all our fans all around the world. So our girls will definitely fight right to the end," Torcaso added.
The Australian mentor said they will focus on being more 'disciplined and compact' against clinical Japan.
"Our main focus is transition moments so we want to make sure that when we do defend well and we defend with discipline, that we transition better and that's obviously a focus in this game as well. But we also have to respect the opponent and the quality of the opponent. So we know that those transition moments or those set pieces potentially may be limited, so we have to take full advantage of those moments when we actually get them," he said.
Torcaso has reiterated the importance of the younger members of the Filipinas competing in a high-level tournament.
"So we've really set ourselves up in a great position to go to another World Cup. We've also put ourselves in the position to be in the next Olympic qualifiers as well. That was also a goal for us so we got made more tournaments to expose our good players and our young players," he said.
"This is much bigger than just making a quarterfinal. This is huge for our country because as Malea said we have a responsibility not only as players and coaches to play the game that we love or coach the game that we love. We have a responsibility to make sure that every young girl in the Philippines or around the world wants to play for our national team for the long term," Torcaso said.
For Filipinas player Malea Cesar, she relishes the chance to play against high-level teams in the region.
"Personally as a player, what more can you ask for, for this opportunity to play against one of the best teams in the world, not just in Asia. I know myself and all of the other girls are really excited to go out there and you know prove what our principles are as a national team representing the Philippines and give everybody a show and hopefully prove that we belong on this stage," she said.
"We've had a lot of hard moments that have taught us a lot and we're going to continue working our way towards qualifying for the World Cup which has been our ultimate goal," Cesar added.
The 22-year-old shared the mindset of the Filipinas facing a powerhouse like Japan.
"Mentally and physically you know it's the same as any other game is the way we're approaching it. Taking in all the information that we can from what the coaches are giving us and making sure that we show up every day in training to do what we have to do to come out prepared," Cesar said.
"Communication and cohesion. I think that's gonna be what's gonna make sure that we're as prepared as possible and as together as possible throughout the whole game and just sticking to our game plan as a team," she added.
The Filipinas will take on Japan for a spot in the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Stadium Australia at 1 p.m., Philippine time.