The PMNFT moved swiftly to find a replacement for Tom Saintfiet, bringing in veteran Spanish coach Albert Capellas.
The Philippine Men’s National Football Team has announced the appointment of Albert Capellas as the team’s new head coach, less than two weeks after Tom Saintfiet abruptly resigned to move back to Africa.
“The priority in our selection process was to find someone who not only shared our philosophy for the National Teams, but also had the capability to transmit that vision to our players quickly. In Albert Capellas, we’ve found an incredibly good fit — a man who embodies our idea of how the game should be played, and who’s had decades of experience successfully implementing this style in various elite performance environments across Europe and in Asia,” said Director of Senior National Teams Freddy Gonzalez.
Albert Capellas is a Spanish UEFA Pro License Coach who brings 33 years of coaching experience to the Philippines. The Catalan-born tactician spent over a decade of that time in FC Barcelona, where he started as FC Barcelona B assistant, then Youth Team Coordinator, and eventually Deputy Director of Youth Academy. He was also assistant to top coaches in prominent clubs across the world: Thomas Frank at Denmark’s Brondby, Peter Bosz at Germany’s Borussia Dortmund and Netherlands’ Vitesse, and Jordi Cruyff in Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv and China’s Chongqing Dangai.
Capellas would later go on to lead the Denmark Under-21 team to their most successful spell from 2019 to 2021, before becoming head coach of Danish club Midtjylland.
“I’m very proud to be a part of this journey. For me, it’s a fantastic feeling to be here, to help the Federation to go to the next level because that’s what they are looking for,” Capellas said in remarks provide by the Philippine Football Federation. “When Freddy asked me to join this project and explained to me what they are working on to make the federation better, and to deliver the best for the players, and how he wanted to approach football for the coming years in the Philippine teams, I was aligned and it piqued my attention.
“We clicked personally, which is very important for me — that you can be around people that you can work with and you can do your job. That’s why I’m here. I think the aspects we want to develop, we can make them happen. It won’t be easy — nothing in football is — but we can promise that we will do our best. I hope they (the fans) will enjoy the way we want to play, and the way we want to perform.”
Passionate about helping talent reach their full potential, Capellas has had a hand in the development of world renowned talents such as Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Thiago Alcantara, Pedro, and Lamine Yamal. He looks to bring that skillset to raising the level of Filipino talent across the world.
“Our vision is built on three values. Honesty – that everything we do in the national team, we can look each other in the eyes all the time. Then it’s about commitment. Nobody can stay in the national team without commitment to achieve the goals we are looking for. Finally there is courage, to fight for the aims we want to achieve,” said Cappelas.
“We want to achieve a new way of playing, a new way of training and I want to help them to understand better what it means to be a professional. We want to help Filipino players who have the chance to play abroad, that they can find better teams, that they can be better prepared to be scouted and have better football careers.”
‘It won’t be easy’
With Norman Fegidero Jr. appointed as interim head coach for recent Merdeka Cup, the Philippine Men’s National Team already started showing signs of a shift in playing style to a more proactive and aggressive approach, with a willingness to build from the back, control possession, and dictate the game. With Capellas at the helm and Fegidero as his assistant, the change is expected to be accelerated.
“Football should be fun and exciting for both the spectators and the players. In order for that to be case, I believe we need to unshackle the players and place them in a system that trusts their talents and challenges them to raise their game. Coaches in the past may not have had the necessary faith in our players to implement our vision. In this new chapter, that will definitely not be a problem. Our players and spectators can look forward to exciting times,” said Gonzalez.
“Albert came to observe during the Merdeka Cup, and while he wasn’t officially on board yet at the time, he was eager to already start providing his support to Norman before the Tajikistan game. In those few days Albert showed an impressive attention to detail, and an ability to communicate his ideas very clearly,” he continued. “He wanted to make sure that before the King’s Cup, the team would already have a foundation to build on. If you saw that Tajikistan game, it’s safe to say our players are fully embracing the direction we’re heading.”
With the aim of qualifying for the 2027 Asian Cup, Albert Capellas is hoping to use the coming International Friendly windows in October and November, and the ASEAN Championships in December, to ensure the team arrives at the start of the Asian Cup qualifying in March 2025 fully prepared to execute the vision.
“It won’t be easy. This is a project. It will be a journey, a process. There will be ups and downs. Sometimes we will fail. Our job is to make sure we learn from the fails,” said Capellas. “We will try to climb the mountain with a safe journey and go as far as possible. I hope the fans will be able to see the changes in October, and in November and December. But it won’t be everything at one time.”
“What excites me the most is the game of football. It’s why I have different experiences in youth academy, or as a national team coach, or as an assistant with top coaches in big leagues and in smaller leagues in Europe and Asia. And now the Philippine national team gives me a new opportunity to discover more about the game, and to discover more about different cultures and different mentalities, and different ways to approach the game. Now I have a new challenge, where they can use my expertise to achieve all the things we are looking for.”
Banner Image from the PFF.