Philippine women’s national football team head coach Mark Torcaso admitted that he still needs to familiaze with the talent some members of the Filipinas are bringing in when the Asian Games action begins against Hong Kong on Friday, Sept. 22.

Unlike the select players who remained in the Philippines after the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the rest of the team were away for their club duties overseas in the time of Torcaso’s appointment. 

Not only Torcaso and the fairly new coaching staff are dealing with the short turnaround, but also in improving their familiarity and chemistry with the team. 

Some of the core players who are only now getting acquainted with Torcaso include Sarina Bolden, Sara Eggesvik, Quinley Quezada, Katrina Guillou, and Olivia McDaniel, to name a few. 

“It's been such a short time since my appointment along with the other staff, so it’s only been a couple of weeks. Just tryna engage with them,” Torcaso said during an online media availability on Thursday, Sept. 21. 

“Allowing us to show what we’re capable of as coaches. Ultimately by the end of this tournament, my intention is to make sure we’ve ingrained ourselves in their way of playing. It’s important for us to immerse ourselves into this environment and this connectivity that we’ve created as a group, so that’s my main goal is to build on that and instill their own ways,” he added. 

It didn’t take long for Torcaso’s predecessor Alen Stajcic to instill his coaching genius to the Filipinas in the span of 18 months, where a continued rise in the world stage met the team. 

With expectations to meet and big shoes to fill in, Torcaso said his priority is to keep the Filipinas as competitive as possible against other Asian powerhouses including South Korea, which the Philippines is set to meet in the elimination round fixture. 

“We’re gonna spend a lot of time getting to know them in this tournament. But the expectation is to be as competitive as possible. And so far, it’s been okay,” said Torcaso. 

The Nationals will face Hong Kong first before playing South Korea and Myanmar in Group C. 

“Everyone’s goal is to win something special like this. So, our aim is to get as far as possible that we can in the tournament and hope to play in the final game. But also from our perspective, we understand this is also a tournament with a chance for us to prepare ourselves in the upcoming competitions and as well as a chance for me to see the players playing in all of the competitive games here in the Asian Games,” Torcaso said. 

“Definitely wanna go as deep and as far as we can,” he concluded.