After seeing two faces of women’s football, Rodriguez revels in ‘special’ success

Bad side, good side. Past, present. Camille Rodriguez has seen it all, and looks forward to what the future holds. —AFF PHOTO

Camille Rodriguez had experienced what it was when Philippine women’s football struggled on the international pitch.

But following a spate of success never seen in the past, Rodriguez, who 11 years ago made her debut as a teenager, can only feel a sense of how rewarding it is to be part of the team’s growth.

“It’s special,” Rodriguez said recently after the Filipinas captured the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Women’s Championship more than a week ago on home soil.

“More than a decade ago, I was one of the babies. To be one of the veterans now, it’s almost like [a] full circle, but it’s also like it’s not over yet,” added the 27-year-old midfielder.

Rodriguez is the bridge to the past, the present and, maybe, the future.

The Zamboanga-born footballer was 16 when she debuted in the 2011 AFF Women’s Championship in Vientiane, Laos, playing alongside the likes of mainstays Marielle Benitez and Samantha Nierras.

She even scored her first international goal when the Philippines fought Malaysia to a 2-2 draw during the last game of the competition.

After a long break to concentrate on her college studies and her UAAP stint with Ateneo, Rodriguez came back around 2016, in what turned out to be a steady rise to the country’s historic qualification to the Fifa Women’s World Cup.

Rodriguez was one of the prominent players when the Philippines qualified for the 2018 Asian Football Confederation Women’s Asian Cup in Jordan, falling one win short of getting a 2019 World Cup berth after losing handily to South Korea.

Two fourth-place finishes in the AFF Women’s Championship and Southeast Asian (SEA) Games proved to be among the slow steps Rodriguez and company took to get where they are now.

Not even a long layoff due to the pandemic prevented the women’s team from gaining more ground in the Asian region.

The addition of new players plus the hiring of coach Alen Stajcic catapulted the Philippines to a place in the 2023 World Cup, a bronze medal finish in the Vietnam SEA Games and the AFF title which was achieved before 8,257 fans at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Still an integral figure within the team despite her reduced playing time, Rodriguez had once said the Filipinas’ success is evident of how “investing in women’s football works.”

But as she and the team had constantly said, there are more goals to be aimed as preparations for the World Cup continue.

“I’m thankful that our goals are aligned, meaning that both players and coaches are aiming the same,” she said. “We always want to keep on improving, and the history that we continue to make is like a bonus for us.

“So we have to set new goals now and achieve more for the country,” added Rodriguez.