Inna Palacios (right) gestures as Visa country manager for Philippines and Guam Jeff Navarro makes a point. —FRANCIS T.J. OCHOA
Everything that the Philippine national women’s football team has accomplished so far—the milestones set and the winning of “moments after moments after moments”—is just a prelude.
That’s the mentality that Inna Palacios said the Filipinas have embraced.
“[I]t’s the beginning of more things to come for the future generation,” Palacios, one of the goalkeepers in the national squad, said on Wednesday. “[The World Cup] should be the starting point of how we wanna grow the sport here.”
The 29-year-old veteran said the national squad has big dreams when it sees action in the World Cup, adding that “just basing it off our team talks, we really want to get out of our group.”
But as bold as that ambition is—the team is bunched in a tough Group A with host New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland—Palacios said the ultimate goal is even bigger. Palacios said the mission transcends the big steps the Filipinas have taken since qualifying for the World Cup last year, like ruling the Asean Football Federation women’s championship and taking the bronze medal during the last Southeast Asian Games.
International success
The Filipinas (photo above) celebrate in the din of fireworks and sprays of champagne after blanking Thailand, 3-0, for the country’s first Asean Football Federation Women’s Championship title on Sunday before a banner crowd at the Rizal Memorial Stadium pitch. –PFF PHOTO
“We have to back these results,” Palacios said. “Me, personally, I don’t want this to be the last time or the only time [the Philippines qualifies for the World Cup]. I believe so much in our talent, so much in what the Filipino can do that I need to see this more often in my lifetime.”
The Filipinas have had an unprecedented run of success in the international arena, and that has resulted in a snowballing support from the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa), which allocated a huge amount for the country’s participation in the World Cup, and the private sector.
And Palacios hopes this support translates into the growth of the sport, especially among the young.
“It’s one of the main things we need to figure out,” said Palacios, who spoke to reporters after a talk at the Philippine office of Visa, the global electronics payment pioneer that signed the goalkeeper as an ambassador. “As players, we [aren’t] the [sole indicators of] growth. It’s about the whole community [of the] sport that will allow the sport to develop even further.”
But the players have a huge role in growing the sport.
Fulfilling a responsibility
“It always starts with someone … a voice, and with people who can believe in [that person] magnifying that message. Eventually, we’ll get there,” said Jeff Navarro, the Visa country manager for Philippines and Guam.
The Filipinas understand that. And they’re not taking their responsibility lightly.
“Our journey doesn’t stop at the World Cup,” she said. “I’m telling you we’re still itching to beat that [achievement] because that’s just how we’re wired. We want to keep pushing. There’s no limit for us because that’s how much we want to grow the sport in the country and we want little girls and little boys to want to follow our footsteps and say ‘I want to be like them.’”
And making it out of their group will be a big step to achieving that growth. It is a daunting task, but not beyond achieving.
“I think the men’s World Cup has brought so much hope and motivation to nations like us,” Palacios said. “It’s such a fair game when you blow that first whistle. Anything is possible at that point and that’s the reason we qualified for the World Cup. Winning the moment after moment after moment is how we were able to get there.”