PFF opens nat’l team’s workouts

Newly-appointed head coach Tom Saintfiet is opening the doors to the Philippine men’s football team’s workout on Friday afternoon at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

The Philippines is set to play against Iraq twice this month with the first one on 21 March (22 March in Manila) at the Basra International Stadium in Iraq with the second match happening in Manila on 26 March.

These matches are part of the squad’s buildup for the second window of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

“You are all welcome to be at the Rizal Stadium. We want the fans to be proud to be part of our football community,” Saintfiet said.

Saintfiet, who took Gambia to the quarterfinal of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, is taking a page from the strategy the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas did with Gilas Pilipinas.

Under head coach Tim Cone, Gilas conducted open practices at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City where fans interacted and took pictures with squad members.

It worked wonders for SBP as the Philippines captured the 19th Asian Games gold medal last September and won the first two games of the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

Philippine Football Federation national team director Freddy Gonzalez said this strategy will also be applied when they train for the 26 March match at the same venue.

We’re going to continue that as well so when we come back from Iraq, we will have an open training for the fans to attend,” Gonzalez, who is also the men’s national teams manager, said.

“We are also expanding the fan zone in the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Last November, the fan zone was a big success and the fans really appreciated that. So we are expanding it now. We have a lot more sponsors coming in to make it a better experience for fans.”