Push Admin

Alen Stajcic 'one of the best assets' of Filipinas against world's top teams

Article (news)

Rom Anzures, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Philippine team head coach Alen Stajcic " src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tvpatrol/06/12/20220717-aff-womens-ph-thailand-gc-24.jpg"/><figcaption>Philippine team head coach Alen Stajcic moments before their match against Thailand in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Women’s Championship held at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on July 17, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — As the Philippine women&#x27;s national football team gears up for its historic stint in the 2023 FIFA Women&#x27;s World Cup, striker Sarina Bolden revealed one of the team&#x27;s best weapons against the world&#x27;s top teams is their head coach, Alen Stajcic.&quot;He’s been one of the best assets of this team, and its growth and success is because of him and the staff that he’s brought on,&quot; Bolden told <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/articles/sarina-bolden-philippines-interview-womens-world-cup-2023" target="_blank">FIFA</a>. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/10/23/football-stajcic-names-filipinas-provisional-roster-to-world-cup">Sarina Bolden, Hali Long lead Filipinas&#x27; 29-woman pool for World Cup</a></li></ul>&quot;His knowledge of the sport and tactics and just professionally I think has really helped this team get to where we are today. He knows what he’s talking about. At the same time he pushes us to be better soccer players and, without him knowing, also be better people and hold ourselves with more confidence and believe in ourselves and stand up for ourselves,&quot; she added.Bolden also revealed how their Australian mentor&#x27;s mindset has rubbed off on their whole squad as the prepare to play Norway, Switzerland, and co-host New Zealand in the global showcase.&quot;Australians like to say, ‘Back yourself’, and I feel like a lot of us have slowly started to back ourselves more and be more confident each day. I really have a lot of respect for him as a coach and as a person because I know he really cares about football, but also about this team and he wants to see this team succeed,&quot; she explained.Stajcic&#x27;s no-nonsense approach has worked wonders for the Filipinas since he was tapped as their head coach in October 2021, according to Bolden.&quot;He’s not going to have hopes and dreams and just pray we do well. We’re going to plan and prepare. That approach has really pushed us forward, because without a plan you can’t really get anywhere, which is what I’ve learned from his leadership,&quot; said Bolden.&quot;There’s still so much to learn from him, which is the scary part because we’ve only had him for a little over a year. We’ve done the work of ten years in one. So to see that much growth in one year, it’ll be really exciting to see where he’ll take us and what we can achieve moving forward.&quot;All of these will be crucial for the Filipinas as they face top opponents who Bolden described as &#x27;tough&#x27; and &#x27;high-quality&#x27; squads.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/17/23/armed-with-new-kits-filipinas-gear-up-for-world-cup">Football: Armed with new kits, Filipinas gear up for World Cup</a></li></ul>&quot;Luckily, we’ve had a little bit of experience against [New Zealand]. We played a friendly against them and lost 2-1. We got good competition and experience playing against them. I actually have a New Zealand teammate on my team, so being familiar is an asset. I think we can definitely make our mark, but it’s not going to be easy,&quot; she said of the squad whom they will be facing on July 25.Bolden actually scored against New Zealand in their friendly last September 2022, but the Filipinas gave up two second-half goals against the World Cup co-hosts. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/08/22/ph-womens-team-hangs-tough-against-new-zealand">PH Women&#x27;s Team hangs tough against New Zealand</a></li></ul>They will be opening their FIFA campaign on the other hand against Switzerland on July 21. &quot;Switzerland is another highly-quality team. Right off the bat, we know they’re going to be very good. We were just talking about how they might be similar to Scotland or Wales, two teams we just played. We lost both games, but they weren’t blowouts, so it gives us confidence that we’re definitely going to make our mark when we play Switzerland.&quot;&quot;But again, it will be a very hard, tough game. We’re not going into these games thinking it’s going to be easy, because it’s going to be very far from easy,&quot; she added.Arguably their hardest opponent in the group stage, however, are former champions Norway, which feature Ballon d&#x27;Or winner Ada Hegerberg, Barcelona standout Caroline Graham Hansen, and Chelsea playmaker Guro Reiten.&quot;Obviously that is probably going to be our toughest game of the group stage, but it’s going to be a really great opportunity to even play a team like that,&quot; she said on the squad whom they will face on the 30th of July.&quot;I think everyone is beatable, and I know that might sound weird coming from the least likely team to do damage in the World Cup. But everyone is beatable and we’re going to go into it with the mindset that we can beat Norway.&quot;<div>RELATED VIDEO </div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2674064" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

As the Filipinas gear up for the Women's World Cup, striker Sarina Bolden revealed one of the team's best weapons against the world's top teams: Alen Stajcic.

Alen Stajcic 'one of the best assets' of Filipinas against world's top teams

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

Sports

Alen Stajcic 'one of the best assets' of Filipinas against world's top teams

Rom Anzures,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jun 12, 2023 07:49 PM PHT

Read More:

football

FIFA

FIFA Women's World Cup

Philippine women's national football team

PWNFT

Filipinas

Sarina Bolden

Alen Stajcic

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.