Filipina5 coach Rafa Merino remains optimistic as PH eyes bounce back in FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup

Philippine women’s national futsal team coach Rafa Merino is keeping the morale intact within the squad as they battle their way through the ongoing FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup.

For what the Filipinas5 have shown, the Spanish mentor expressed his happiness over the effort of the Nationals despite absorbing a 6-0 opening loss against world No. 14 Poland in Group A at the PhilSports Arena on Friday night.

“I see it not as a loss, but I think we played a really good game by keeping this level of play for more than forty minutes, which is a lot of time. So I’m not sad, I’m still happy with how the team played,” said Merino in Spanish as translated in English by a staff member.

After only debuting exactly a year ago during the maiden AFF Women’s Futsal Championship, the Filipinas5 have made admirable progress since then.

Even with limited time to prepare against other established futsal powerhouses, Merino believes that the campaign has given the national team and the program an early opportunity to build on with the hosting of the Futsal Worlds right at home.

“In terms of the team, it is almost the same members from when we debuted exactly a year ago. There are a few changes, but it’s not relevant. The relevant part is the improvements that the players have shown. They have been training the whole year. There’s a big difference between last year and today because of the amount of energy and time they’ve put into training to improve,” he added.

Filipinas forward Inday Tolentin led the onslaught for the home bet to strike back, which Merino said would have made all the difference they most needed to come back from a huge deficit.

“I think that one of those chances we had at the beginning to score, if we actually made it, it would have changed the game a little bit for us. It would have brought a little more energy out for the team. And it would have Poland doubt [its chances] a little,” said Merino.

Morocco, on the other hand, was dealt the same blow after its own 6-0 defeat to Argentina in the same group.

The losing sides are out for blood on Monday at the expense of each other for their first three points in the tournament.

“Every team here is strong because we’re in a World Cup. Everything is going to be difficult for us. They are going to make it hard for us since the other teams have more experience than we do. But what makes us different is the energy that we have,” Merino said.

Similarly, Moroccan coach Adel Sayah is tempering expectations for his visiting side, with the Filipino crowd expected to make it a lot more challenging for them.

Despite being in the same boat, though, Morocco has actually made the biggest jump in the rankings from 16 spots to No. 31 heading into the competition, which should play a crucial part in its attempt to stage an upset.

“We knew in advance that the first game against Argentina will be very tough. Most of our players are coming from football, so the experience of the Argentine players made the difference in this game. We didn’t have much experience in playing with such a team. But our chances in this group remain,” Sayah said.

“We will forget about the first game and focus on our game against the Philippines. We know that the next game will be very hard as well because we’re playing the host team. This group is tough, but we will fight until the very end. We’re very proud. to be here among 16 teams that made history in the first edition. We’re going to do our best to reach the next round.”

—JMB, GMA Integrated News