Former Philippines Women’s National Football Team standout and captain Marielle Benitez underlined the value of international exposure at an early age following the relative success achieved by the U-14 women’s team in the recently concluded U-14 AFC held in Laos.
Benitez, working as an assistant to U-14 team coach Joyce Landangan, helped the country achieve another silver medal finish in the regional tilt. In the press conference at the PFF House last Tuesday, she stated how playing against opposition from abroad can impact the quality of football the girls can produce. “The level is very high especially when at this stage they can get the exposure already,” Benitez noted. Aside from the AFF tournament, Landangan’s team also competed earlier in the year in Japan as part of the JENESYS U-14 Girls Football Exchange Program.
As one of the most experienced national team players in the senior level, Benitez calls the crop she helps mentoring as lucky. In her day, Benitez only got to try senior football from the time she was a 16 year-old. “It was difficult because I was playing with girls older than me [while] these girls get to represent the country at their age level,” she went on to say. In comparison, the development of players today is arguably better than it was during Benitez’s youth as it gradually introduces them to the rigors of international football competitions.
Furthering Benitez’s stand is her observation in training camps. “The girls who went to Japan had the edge over those who went to tryouts in April only because they were able to see their opponents before the tournament,” she found out. While not everyone in the team that joined the tournament in Japan got on the plane to Laos, seven of them made their mark in Vientiane such as Kassandra Zalamea, Alex Villalon. Maria Lazo and Anya Fuentes to name a few.
Losing to Thailand, a country that already made its way to the world stage, by a narrow margin at the U-14 level may well indicate how bright the future looks for Philippine Women’s Football. Its servant since the early years of the 21st century, Benitez is hoping that success won’t end here. “If the Philippines is able to keep these together and build them up, I don’t think its far to see the Philippines in the Women’s World Cup,” she concluded.
