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Interim coach Norman Fegidero Jr. and Jarvey Gayoso of the Philippine men's national football team after a press conference on Tuesday. Handout/PFF-PMNFT

Interim coach Norman Fegidero Jr. and Jarvey Gayoso of the Philippine men's national football team after a press conference on Tuesday

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ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1725349806465DSC03079_embed.JPG" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Interim coach Norman Fegidero Jr. and Jarvey Gayoso of the Philippine men&#x27;s national football team after a press conference on Tuesday. Handout/PFF-PMNFT"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Interim coach Norman Fegidero Jr. and Jarvey Gayoso of the Philippine men&#x27;s national football team after a press conference on Tuesday. <em>Handout/PFF-PMNFT</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA -- Days before entering the 2024 Merdeka Cup, the Philippine men&#x27;s national football team saw a major development as head coach Tom Saintfiet left for the Malian national club.</p><p>The Philippine Football Federation also said in a press release Tuesday that there were also &quot;late dropouts of some key players.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/8/29/coach-tom-saintfiet-leaves-ph-mens-football-team-for-mali-1651"><strong>READ: Coach Tom Saintfiet leaves PH men&#x27;s football team for Mali<br/></strong></a></div><p>Despite this, interim head coach Norman Fegidero Jr. remained enthusiastic about the country&#x27;s chances in the Malaysian tournament while acknowledging that preparing the squad is a &quot;big challenge&quot; for him.</p><p>Fegidero also revealed they only have one day of training as they face host Malaysia on Wednesday evening at Bukit Jalil Stadium.</p><p>&quot;Our first training is today. My job is how to make this team competitive. It’s a unique situation, but I believe in them. We’ll give them a good fight. We want to win. We’re all on the same page. We want to win, for our fans of course,&quot; Fegidero said in a statement.</p><p>“We’re in a very unique situation. The team arrived yesterday and other<span style="white-space:pre">    </span>players will arrive this afternoon. It&#x27;s a big challenge for me on how we prepare the team,&quot; he went on.</p><div><a class="fr-green" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/12/24/pff-names-freddy-gonzalez-as-director-of-national-teams"><strong>READ: PFF appoints Freddy Gonzalez as director of national teams<br/></strong></a></div><p>Players&#x27; familiarity with each other will play a role, said Fegidero.</p><p>&quot;All of the players are excited to play here in this Merdeka Cup. We&#x27;ve been together for a long time,  so the players are familiar with one another. I think we can play a very good game.&quot;</p><p>Echoing Fegidero&#x27;s sentiment, Jarvey Gayoso said he isn&#x27;t that worried about the lack of training time.</p><p>&quot;Most of the guys here, we’ve already met and we’ve played with one another. So right now, we’re just preparing ourselves mentally for the game tomorrow,&quot; he said.</p><p>A triumph over Malaysia would mean the country will face the winner of the Lebanon-Tajikistan match on Sunday.</p><p>A loss, however, would mean that the Nationals will be relegated to the bronze medal match.<strong><br/></strong></p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/42Kv9-13wV4??si=1IJLCLPrX7tkNKi2&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>"Our first training is today. My job is how to make this team competitive. It’s a unique situation, but I believe in them. We’ll give them a good fight."</p>

"Our first training is today. My job is how to make this team competitive. It’s a unique situation, but I believe in them. We’ll give them a good fight."

Despite short preparation, interim coach says PH football team to give a 'good fight' in Merdeka Cup

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Despite short preparation, interim coach says PH football team to give a 'good fight' in Merdeka Cup

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 03, 2024 03:50 PM PHT

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Updated Sep 03, 2024 05:01 PM PHT

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Philippine men's national football team

Philippine Football Federation

Norman Fegidero Jr.

Jarvey Gayoso

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