The Philippine Football Federation is looking to build stronger relations with the men and women’s national teams to further boost their chances when they play on the international stage.
Newly-elected PFF president John Gutierrez said a technical group will be assembled to get feedbacks from both the Azkals and the Filipinas to better cater to their specific needs.
The Filipinas are currently conducting tryouts in the United States while The Azkals are coming off from two home games in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification.
“We are going to work closely with the managers of the current national teams and make some evaluations on how to improve the way the national teams are faring, we will have a new technical group to assist and further give insights into how we feel we can further support,” Gutierrez said.
“It’s not just about the national teams per se, it’s about how to support them and make it more sustainable. So from grassroots, youth development and the younger national teams, we’re going to see with our panel of experts how we can further improve.”
Gutierrez, the general secretary of the Bukidnon Football Association, said he would like to have more homegrown talent be at par with players coming overseas.
“Filipinos are Filipinos regardless of how much Filipino blood they have. I think the real issue is not the percentage of blood in the players representing our country. I think the issue is those representing our country are not being developed locally,” Gutierrez said.
“By the end of my term, I wish to have closed the gap between how the Philippines develops its talent against the rest of the world. And the only reason our national players are better than local talents is because of the kind of training and development, and the kind of exposure that is accorded to them. And in my administration, that’s the gap that we plan to bridge.”
