Filipinas finish San Diego camp with Albion win

SAN DIEGO — The Philippine women’s national football team wrapped up its San Diego training camp with a 2-0 friendly win over Women’s Premier Soccer League side Albion San Diego, capping a two-match series meant to sharpen the Filipinas’ buildup for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

The camp was held at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center and also served as a talent identification program for the senior and under-20 national teams.

The Filipinas defeated Albion San Diego on Wednesday morning, Philippine time, behind goals from veteran Chandler McDaniel and 19-year-old Natalie Oca.

The victory followed a June 4 friendly against National Women’s Soccer League club San Diego Wave, which the Filipinas narrowly lost, 1-0, on an own goal.

San Diego Wave’s roster includes Canadian international Adriana Leon and Filipinas prospect Nya Harrison, according to the club’s official roster.

The NWSL is the top professional women’s football league in the United States, while Albion San Diego competes in the WPSL, where it debuted in 2019 and has played five seasons.

Philippine Football Federation President John Anthony Gutierrez, who attended the Albion San Diego match, said the camp was an important part of the Filipinas’ World Cup preparation cycle.

“Competing against American professional clubs is exactly the kind of environment we want our players in — the level is consistently high, the tempo is unforgiving, and there is no better way to stress-test our systems and our depth ahead of Brazil. The San Diego camp gave us important answers about where this team stands and where it needs to grow,” Gutierrez said.

“The results were competitive and encouraging,” Gutierrez added. “To keep a full NWSL side to a single own goal and to win convincingly against a quality WPSL club reflects a Filipinas program that continues to build on its SEA Games and Asian Cup success. We are on the right trajectory, and camps like this are exactly why.”

Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso said the camp delivered valuable tests against two different opponents.

“We got to play two very different opponents,” Torcaso said. “Against San Diego Wave — probably one of the best club teams in the world — the match provided continued development in our defensive game, our compactness, and the way we want to defend against very good teams. The girls were resilient and strong, and we were very happy with the outcome.”

Torcaso said the second match allowed the coaching staff to focus more on the team’s attacking play.

“It gave us more time on the ball and the opportunity to continue developing how we create chances in the front third. We also gave opportunities to many players — including Kyra Murphy, Camryn Penn, Keira Wagner, and the return of Maysen Veronda — to assess what roles they can play within the team.”

The Filipinas are using the camp as part of a longer preparation program for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which FIFA said will be held in Brazil from June 24 to July 25, 2027.

The tournament will be the 10th edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and will feature 32 teams, with Brazil becoming the first South American host of the competition.

Torcaso said the team’s next focus includes the Asian Games in Japan, where the coaching staff expects to further assess the squad.

“The plan at Asian games is to further test our squad roster, as we will have many of our pro club players and college players unavailable due to there respective team commitments as Asian games is outside the FIFA window,” Torcaso said.