Philippines, Italy celebrate ties with Friendship Cup

Photo from PFF

MANILA, Philippines—The ties between the Italian Republic and the Republic of the Philippines will be celebrated with the upcoming Philippines-Italy Friendship Cup on Tuesday at Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

The Philippines will be represented by the country’s under-19 selection while Italy will be bannered by a selection of locally recruited players.

Particularly, the under-19 booters for the Philippines were scouted during the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) U19 Boys’ National Championship while PFF Technical Director Josep Ferré will call the shots.

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The locally recruited players for Italy’s squad were chosen by former Philippine men’s national team mainstay Simon Greatwich, who will also be the team’s coach.

“The Philippines-Italy Friendship Cup 2024 is one of the most important events in the series of initiatives organized by the Embassy of Italy in Manila for the 2024 Italian Republic Day,” Ambassador of Italy to the Philippines Marco Clemente said.

“This event marks a new chapter in the fruitful cooperation between Italy and the Philippines, which was also celebrated in 2022 during the 75th Anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic relations,” he added.

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PFF President John Anthony Gutierrez is ecstatic about the upcoming Friendship Cup.

The federation’s president stated that aside from celebrating the friendship of the country and Italy, it also showcases the country’s love for the sport of football.

“This Friendship Cup is very special to the federation on several levels,” he said.

“Aside from commemorating the ties between Italy and the Philippines, which date back to the 1940s, we are able to highlight Filipino football culture and also give our emerging U19 National Team a chance to play against a selection team, which we expect to be a formidable opponent.”

Tickets for the Friendship Cup will be free to the public. Tickets are available at https://ticket2me.net/event/21819.