The Philippines opened their AFC Women’s Asian Cup campaign with an impressive 1-0 victory over Southeast Asian rivals Thailand on Matchday One. Against Australia, the Philippines held their own for 45 minutes before conceding four goals – a performance which earned praises from Stajcic.

The grit shown against Australia is what Stajcic expects from his players when they take on Indonesia and the Australian tactician believes his players are inspired to succeed.

“We did have some injuries (against Australia). Our first two keepers were both injured, Kristina Guillou, we could only bring on for a little bit at the end. She had a little niggle and couldn’t get through the whole game. 

“They’re a couple of key players and we also have some COVID issues as well. We weren’t at full strength, which shows how impressive the performance was.

“The players in the squad want to change the game back home. They want to be inspirational to the next generation and they’ve spoken about that often."

“They’re at the forefront now, and they’re on the precipice of being able to do that (qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup) but there’s a lot of hard work to be done between now and qualifying.

“Hopefully we can give the Philippines and all the players back home – young boys and young girls – some inspiration and hope that they can play at FIFA World Cups in the future.”

Indonesia, playing in the tournament after a 33-year absence, were dealt a steep learning curve in their 18-0 defeat to Australia on Matchday One with Rudy Eka Priyambada’s side then suffering a 4-0 loss to Thailand.

Given Indonesia’s inexperience, Priyambada believes there is room to grow for his developing squad especially with a number of them below the age of 23.

“We have learned a lot in these past two games, the defeat against Australia and Thailand has pointed out weaknesses and areas of improvement in our game,” said Priyambada. “The players were not comfortable on the ball and it showed. We need more match experience.

“We have a few players from the U18s and U23s who are getting really great exposure from this tournament. I believe this is a positive step towards building a solid Indonesian team for the future."

“Most of the Philippines players have the experience of playing in the United States and I hope my players can compete against them. We just came back into this competition after a 33-year absence and we didn't have many international friendlies.

“So the experience of playing in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup is very important for them and I will give the chance for the other players to play against the Philippines.” 

PHILIPPINES v INDONESIA
Venue: Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex (Pune)
Kickoff: 19:30 (UTC+5:30)