Football's Coming Home: 2022 AFF Women's Championship Preview

Photo Credits: Philippine Women's National Football Team

It may have been put on hold but finally, it's here. For the first time in history, the Philippines will be hosting the AFF Women's Championship and there is a lot at stake for the Filipinas in their first major tournament on home soil since the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

Not wanting to take their foot off the pedal in terms of their preparation for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, the Filipinas are looking to use this tournament as another way to prepare for an even bigger competition in which the country will be debuting in.

With the players being excited to play in front of the home crowd and with their fans willing to reciprocate the feeling, let's now dive into the five exciting things to look forward to in the upcoming 2022 AFF Women's Championship.

1) The Cathedral opens its doors again

The last time football was played inside the historic Rizal Memorial Stadium, it was during the 2020 AFC Cup when Kaya FC-Iloilo played a scoreless draw against Tampines Rovers. Since then, it served as an evacuation site for the Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) during the country's lockdown.

The stadium was packed for all the wrong reasons as the LSIs used the stadium as a temporary hub while they wait for free trips to their respective provinces. What was once a stadium filled with joy turned to a hub oozing with uncertainty and fear of the ongoing pandemic.

Fast forward to 2022, the AFF Women's Championship will be the first and hopefully, the first of many tournaments to be hosted in what we could say is the Mecca of Philippine Football.

The Filipinas have a chance to create a new page of history in this stadium which saw the Philippines qualify for its first AFC Asian Cup appearance, topple a huge opponent in North Korea, and even saw the rebirth of Philippine Football.

"We're all very excited to play on home soil. It's been a very historic and meteoric sort of rise for the last six or seven months for this team. We can't wait to see a full stadium of Filipinas and Filipinos supporting the team and hopefully, get us over the line in what is really tough group," said coach Alen Stajcic on their first time playing at home since the pandemic.

FIlipinas' co-captain Tahnai Annis, who will be playing in the Philippines for the first time also said, "Everyone's just really excited for the home-field advantage. We're really honored to play in the Philippines."

There will be a lot of new players who will be stepping inside the Rizal Memorial Stadium for the very first time but one thing's for sure, they just need to feel the atmosphere, and think about the historic matches that were played on this pitch and they'll surely deliver for the country.

2) The Filipinas are on form heading into this tournament

After a successful campaign in Europe, the Filipinas will be coming into this tournament with so much momentum after bagging two wins in three matches played on European soil.

The main goal of the European training camp was to discover what the newcomers can bring to the table and to gauge how far they have come since Stajcic's day one with the team.

"As we know, we're progressing, we're evolving, and emerging team. We're not getting ahead of ourselves certainly other results in Europe were encouraging. I thought we played really well," said Stajcic regarding their exploits in Europe.

He also added, "We're also really focused on the areas we didn't do so well in and we know how much more we have to improve. There's a lot of room for improvement in our game and we're working hard in our training every single time."

Photo Credits: Philippine Women's National Football Team

After a slim loss against Ireland in Turkey, the Filipinas bounced back with back-to-back wins against Bosnia and Herzegovina to cap off their camp in Slovenia. The work never stopped for the Filipinas since qualifying for the World Cup and this tournament can be considered another camp for them.

Lucky for us, we will finally see first-hand how huge their improvement was since the last time they played on home soil and any type of medal will surely be a bonus considering how difficult the road to the championship is.

3) Filipinas-Matildas rematch

In the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup, the Filipinas were given a front-row seat to how it looks like to face a top-caliber team when they faced Australia in the group stages.

The Filipinas were able to frustrate the Matildas in the first half as they kept them scoreless for the first 45 minutes before Sam Kerr opened the scoring for the 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup champions.

For us, a four-nil result against Australia is a respectable defeat considering the level we were coming from before their first meeting. As the Filipinas are presented with an opportunity to turn the tables on home soil, it will still be a difficult task knowing that the Matildas are probably in their third or fourth gear in terms of their world cup preparation.

It will be very interesting to see how coach Stajcic will adjust the squad based on their previous meeting and their current scouting report. One thing's for sure, a win on opening day against the toughest team in the group will definitely set the tone for the entire competition.

4) Welcome back, fans!

It's been a while, huh? But now, we're back! It's now time for the fans to share their support for our beloved Filipinas as the country hosts the AFF Women's Championship for the first time in history.

Despite the threat of COVID-19 still being around, the Philippine Football Federation, in coordination with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and the Games and Amusements Board, is finding ways to let the fans flock the Rizal Memorial Stadium to show support for the Philippine Women's National Football Team.

With the news that fans could be allowed inside the stadium, the Ultras Filipinas already showed their intent to watch the matches live and gather everyone to chant for the Filipinas.

The Filipinas were already treated to some festive vibes in the 2019 SEA Games when they played their group stage matches in the Biñan Football Stadium as the Ultras Filipinas stayed true to its word that they will support all the national squads.

For sure, the minimum safety guidelines will be implemented during the match but with the fans longing for an atmosphere like this for a very long time, we'll not be surprised if the fans will go berserk once again. Just have a look at this.

5) The Eat Sleep Breathe Football Preview

Of course, before we head into opening day on July 4, 2022, the Eat Sleep Breathe Football Gang will be doing its preview of the 2022 AFF Women's Championship where we'll talk about our chances, expectations, and everything about the tournament.

Here, we will be joined by our friends from The Futbol Brew who will be giving their expert insights as well about the Filipinas and how they're going to thread their matches in group A.

Here, we'll answer as many questions our pamangkickers will be asking us to help them know more about the Filipinas and the AFF Women's Championship. We'll go live on Facebook on Saturday at 9PM.

Don't worry, we'll make it fun for you as well. We already have the reputation of being a football comedy show as per one of the members of the media so we'll surely live up to your expectations. *wink*