OPINION: Jeff Cheng shares highlights of tenure as Filipinas manager, still open to help PH football

Celebrations were well and truly underway in the jampacked Rizal Memorial Football Stadium on that memorable night of July 17, 2022 as the Philippine national women’s football team, the Filipinas, defeated Thailand to win the 2022 AFF Women’s Championship in Manila.

The same jubilation was felt in the mixed zone some thirty odd minutes after the final whistle, with Filipino journalists greeting the triumphant captains Hali Long and Tahnai Annis as they made their rounds of post-match interviews.

Lost in all the commotion was the Filipinas team manager, Jeff Cheng, who purposely avoided the media by quietly walking behind the advertising boards into a waiting team bus, but not before being harangued by this writer.

“You probably should go back and take the interviews, Mr. Jeff. As team manager, you deserve it.”

He quietly demurred, saying that it’s the players’ and the coaches’ moment.

That, in a nutshell, is Jefferson Cheng, who until very recently was team manager of the Philippine Women’s National Team (PWNT).

Never one to look for self-promotion, never one to actively seek the limelight and personal accolades, and always looking out for others – that to me is who Cheng is.

Having been privileged to have seen him work behind the scenes, I was witness to how hands-on he was with the women’s program.

Under his careful watch, the Filipinas repeatedly broke Philippine women’s football’s proverbial glass ceiling – with the culmination perhaps being the qualification to the country’s first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup and a subsequent first victory in the biggest stage of world football.

A historic maiden victory in the 2022 AFF Women’s Championships in Manila as well a memorable bronze medal in the SEA Games brought about the Filipinas’ reaching a highest ever FIFA World Ranking – all under Jeff Cheng’s tenure as team manager.

Which is why it came as a genuine shock to many as to why Cheng decided to ‘step away from his role’ as team manager of the women’s teams.

READ MORE | Filipinas team manager Jeff Cheng steps down from role

“For several months, we tried our best to make things work, under new and very different circumstances. Unfortunately, the situation is not workable. Our priorities and goals do not align, and the PWNT organization that we worked hard to develop in the past years is incompatible with current methods,” he said in a statement.

One could not help but infer that these “new and very different circumstances” being referred to comes right after a new Philippine Football Federation (PFF) regime was set in place.

Priorities and goals not aligning? Continuing to work with the person who has brought tremendous success to Philippine women’s football seemed like the most obvious thing to do, but instead it seemed like they took the opposite route.

The subsequent official PFF response, which initially said “the PFF’s doors always remaining open to Mr. Cheng and all football supporters” was later revised to say it was “assuring people that the PFF will build on the momentum that the past administration has established.”

The PFF has to now act quickly to appoint someone with the same resources, dedication, and passion to manage the women’s programs, not least because there is a very genuine fear among stakeholders that the gains of the past years will have been wasted.

News of Cheng’s departure will have affected current and future players and staff, and they will need a great measure of reassuring that the program will stay on course.

Farewell to Cheng

In the meantime, it is time to bid a fond farewell and express a thank you to Jeff Cheng, one of the most successful sports benefactors in the country.

If you ask the man himself, what would be his personal highlights from his time as team manager?

“There were many achievements than I ever thought I would be part of,” he said. “But the real highlight for me is being part of this community of players, coaches, staff, media practitioners, parents and supporters, with whom, for the rest of our lives, we will remember certain moments.”

“All these moments — Sarina’s penalty to qualify for the World Cup, finally a SEA Games medal, the victory rounds at Rizal Memorial when we won the 2022 AFF Championships at home, singing our National Anthem with pride at the Women’s World Cup, the win against New Zealand, the U17 Womens’ Asian Cup win against Indonesia — we remember them as not existing on their own but in the context of people we shared our joy with.”

He references an exchange about a now viral video in the ongoing Euro 2024 tournament, which saw a Georgian journalist unable to contain his emotions after seeing his country score its first goal in history at a major tournament.

“For example, just like the way you and fellow journalist Aaron Bayato were reminiscing the other day about Sarina Bolden’s goal in New Zealand in the World Cup when Georgia scored their own first goal in the Euros... It’s hard to put into words what I am trying to say but I am sure all of the Filipinas followers know what I am talking about. That’s the highlight, having a collection of memories like that.”

“Also, simply just being able to work with the members of our team who are the most wonderful group of players, coaches and staff that anyone can have the privilege to work with. Building lifelong friendships — that is what it’s all about.”

What legacy would he like people to remember him by, as Filipinas manager?

“What we have built is the foundation of our women’s program. You can see the future is bright from the Senior team down to the U17s.”

“If the success of the women’s team helped inspire many of our future Filipinas to take up the game and believe that one day they can also play on the world’s biggest stage then that success is not mine alone but the legacy of all those who have been part of our program,” said Cheng.

Having stepped down from his post as Filipinas’ team manager, what would be next for Jeff Cheng? Specifically, can Filipino fans look forward to his support for Philippine football, maybe in another capacity in the future?

“There’s always work to be done and many other opportunities to be of service to our country and our community,” he said.

“If there is a way to help people in Philippine football without causing complications for them, I’m still open to do that.”

—JMB, GMA Integrated News