By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Will this be the start of the Philippine Men’s National Football Team’s resurgence?
After the departure of Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet from the PMNFT, a new tactician from Spain is set to take over his reign and seek to revamp the system.
Welcome to the Philippines, coach Albert Capellas!
A decorated mentor fresh off a stint with FC Midtjylland in the Danish Superliga FC, Capellas became the new official coach of the PMNFT on September 10, 2024, and will immediately kick things off with his new mentees.
Capellas was already learning the team’s system during the recently concluded 2024 Merdeka Cup and will look to deploy the necessary adjustments before the upcoming Mitsubishi Electric Cup begins.
“That’s why I’m here. The goals we want to achieve won’t be easy, nothing in football is, but we promise to give our best. I hope the fans will enjoy the way we aim to play and perform,” said Capellas.
Aside from his experience at the Danish Superliga, Capellas also worked with the Denmark Under-21 national team which marked his rise in the sport of football.
Capellas helped the youngsters from Denmark qualify for the European Championships in 2020, after they edged Finland, 2-1.
It didn’t take long for the world to notice Capellas’ ability and was immediately called up by FC Barcelona to become their manager a year later.
“Our priority was to find someone who not only shared our philosophy for the national teams but also had the capability to quickly implement that vision with our players,” said PFF Director of Senior National Teams Freddy Gonzalez.
Serving as Capellas’ assistant coach for the PMNFT is Norman Fegidero, who was also alongside Saintfiet during the Merdeka Cup.
