Philippine Football Federation chief John Gutierrez is optimistic the Philippine women’s national football team will do just fine despite the exit of its long-time manager, Jeff Cheng.
Fred Gonzalez will take over as interim manager of the Filipinas, which will be a concurrent post aside from his managerial duties with the men’s national football team.
Cheng earlier resigned from his post, citing that their priorities with the new PFF leadership “do not align.”
But Gutierrez explained his side during a press conference held on Monday.
“In my recollection, there was a request for approval for a certain program, and we responded that we needed to sit down and discuss. And then, to our surprise, he resigned,” he said.
“I think that’s pretty much all I can say. The Federation, not just me, wanted to discuss the activities, and that’s it,” he added. “I think we’ll recover just fine. Whatever preparation is needed will go on as scheduled. There’s not much I can say about it.”
Under Cheng’s watch, the Filipinas made it to two Women’s Asian Cups in 2018 and 2022, the latter edition resulting in a qualification to the 2023 World Cup.
The Philippines scored one victory in the World Cup by beating powerhouse New Zealand.
“When I found out (about Cheng’s resignation), it was really disappointing, and I just felt like we just wasted something really good,” said Gonzalez in ABS-CBN News.
He is also hopeful that Cheng will come back.
“Jeff and I, we’ve been in touch. We just had a meeting this morning, and at some point, if he may want to come back, so we’ll see,” said Gonzalez. “But at the end of the day, I have to push forward and continue what he’s built and improve on it as well.
The post Fred Gonzalez becomes Filipinas interim manager after Jeff Cheng’s exit first appeared on Fastbreak.
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