Road to Paris starts for the Filipinas

c/o Philippine Football Federation

The path to Paris in 2024 officially begins on Wednesday night Manila time, as the Philippines kicks off Group E action in the first round of Asian Olympic Qualifying at the Hisor Central Stadium in Tajikistan.

The Filipinas are set to face off against Pakistan in the opening match at 7pm, with the hosts tangling against Hong Kong three hours later.

Head coach Alen Stajcic shares about the road ahead, "The Olympics is a massive event and we’ve never been to the final group stage ever before so trying to top this group and getting out of this group is a difficult assignment. We’re looking forward to the challenge and we’re confident we can get to the next round."

Serving as their first opponents, Pakistan is coming off a four-nation tournament in Saudi Arabia, where they defeated Comoros, drew against the hosts, and lost to Mauritius. The South Asians will be coming in with a slight disadvantage as a result of Nadia Khan suffering an ACL injury. Hoping to fill the massive hole the Doncaster Belle leaves are captain Maria Khan and defender Malika-e-Noor. London Seaward's attacking midfielder Zahmena Malik returns, while Amina Hanif potentially could make her national team debut.

Stajcic shares, "Pakistan has just resumed playing recently and obviously they are emerging and developing and an unknown threat. We don’t know how good they are. There’s always a little bit of anxiety because you don’t know what you’re going to get."

The Philippines will next face off against Tajikistan on Saturday at 10pm PST, capping off with a 7pm PST matchup against Hong Kong on Tuesday.

When asked about the hosts, Stajcic says, "Tajikistan is in a similar boat (like Pakistan). They’re both unknowns in international football, but are starting to really emerge and develop as national teams. We’ve got to respect those countries because we don’t know what kind of game we’ll have until we actually get in there. In that respect, this makes it a difficult challenge."

As for Hong Kong, Stajcic notes, "It was only 18 months ago that we scraped to a 2-1 win to qualify for the Asian Cup, we have to treat them with a lot of respect. That’s going to be a tough battle, it could have easily been Hong Kong making it to the Asian Cup so we know that it was going to be a tricky assignment."

This is the first meeting between the Filipinas and Hong Kong since that match in Tashkent, where Chandler McDaniel's 87th minute game-winner ensured then-manager Marlon Maro's side advanced to the Asian Cup, setting the stage for the Filipinas' historic achievement in India.

McDaniel is among the players Stajcic called up for the competition, as she aims to return to form after suffering an injury during the Asian Cup. Also being called up after her impressive form in the youth level is Bella Pasion.

Only the top team gets to advance to the next round, joining six others alongside Australia, China, Japan, and both Koreas, who each have earned byes. Second round action will feature these twelve teams split into four groups, with the top teams of each group, and the best second-place team advancing to the final round. From there, two knockout matches will officially determine Asian representation in the Summer Games.

The competition serves as additional preparation for the Philippines' impending debut in the FIFA Women's World Cup later this year. They used the last FIFA women's football international window to participate in the Pinatar Cup in Spain, where they battled against Wales and Scotland before allowing five goals against Iceland.