Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes admitted that he is envious of the country’s women’s national football team for having enough time to prepare for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
According to Reyes, the Filipinas had 18 months to prepare for football’s biggest tournament. Meanwhile, his squad, Gilas, is still struggling to have complete attendance for their practice sessions heading to the FIBA World Cup in August.
“Nakaka-inggit nga sila, they had eighteen months training, competing, and living together. That’s really the formula. I just hope… Perhaps it’s a suntok sa buwan wish na magkaroon tayo ng ganung situation,” Reyes said in an interview with CNN Sportsdesk, as reported by Tiebreaker Times.
“Eighteen months of preparation, ‘yun talaga yung blueprint,” Reyes added.
The Filipinas competed in the Southeast Asian Games, the AFF Women’s Championships, and friendly matches with a mostly intact roster. They accomplished this despite having 17 players from different leagues around the world.
In the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Filipinas are reaping the fruits of their long preparation. They only lost to world no. 20 Switzerland by just two goals, 0-2, before defeating New Zealand, 1-0, for the country’s first World Cup win in history. The Filipinas have the chance to enter the round of 16 if they beat world No. 12 Norway on Sunday.
The Gilas coach added that the Filipinas’ success is a source of inspiration for the national basketball team.
“The victory of the Filipinas is giving us tremendous inspiration,” Reyes said. “Kung kaya ng ating kapwang manlalaro ng Pilipinas, kaya rin namin. And it’s giving us great inspiration. We showed them the game and said that this is what we can do.” (MJD)
