New Philippine national men’s football team head coach Tom Saintfiet is impressed with the pool of the local professional players he trained in their first week of training ahead of their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers second round match against Iran on 21 March.
Saintfiet said during the team’s open training at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium last Friday that he likes the talent pool for the national team as he is also expected to also test the collegiate players as well.
“There is so much quality. I am positive for us with the quality of players we have here,” Saintfiet said.
“I was immediately impressed with their ambition. I was looking for an ambitious task to write history somewhere.”
The Philippines’ will face the Lions of Mesopotamia at the Basra International Stadium in Iraq before going back to Manila to face them again on 26 March at the same Rizal venue.
Among those who attended the open training session were national team veterans Kevin Ingreso and Jarvey Gayoso.
Saintfiet, who led Gambia to a quarterfinal finish at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, hopes to not only push through to the next round but also try to keep their World Cup bid alive.
“We’d like to stay as much as possible in the running for the World Cup 2026. This task, I was really looking forward to a task that pushes me to new limits in a new environment,” Saintfiet said.
