Katrina Guillou, Bella Flanigan eye another World Cup stint following PH futsal team call-up

Following successful stints with the Philippine women’s national football team, Katrina Guillou and Bella Flanigan are looking to make the most of their debut with the futsal national team come the AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup in Uzbekistan later this week. 

In 2022, the Filipinas strikers saw action in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India where they clinched a spot to the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time in the slated edition. 

Coming full circle, Guillou and Flanigann see themselves thriving in both national teams as any call of duty warrants their full dedication. 

“I think if you ask any player, their dream is to do it at the highest level possible, and the Philippine women’s national football team and futsal team have given me the chance to do both. I'm really just so grateful for all of them, and hopefully we can have more supporters going into the upcoming tournament,” Guillou said. 

“Any chance to represent the Philippines also, I’ll try to do my best. And doing what I love and I’m grateful for having the opportunity to do it,” Flanigan said as she echoed Guillou. 

It also helps that Filipinas tactician Mark Torcaso is joining newly-appointed futsal mentor Rafa Merino Rodriguez in the coaching staff that’s leading a 14-woman roster to a demanding campaign against Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Australia in the group stage. 

The 31-year-old Guillou, though, is hoping to display her skills in the fast-paced futsal competition as a striker given that she also grew up playing it similarly to football. 

“It (futsal) is a lot faster so just having the ability to sort my feet out and be able to read the opponents and knowing where my next pass is going, hopefully it'll go in the goal, and that's always the aim. But as long as we win, I think I'll be happy at the end of it,” Guillou said.

“Everyone's in closer contact. So just being that, you really need to be having your head on a swivel, knowing where your opponents are, kind of taking two moves ahead. So everything's just a much faster pace,” she added. 

Having played a meaningful part in the Filipinas’ recent historical run, Guillou is eyeing to make another World Cup stint, this time in the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup, which the Philippines is set to host in November. 

“There’s definitely a lot of energy and time that gets put into all of this. But I think if you ask any of the players and coaching staff, it's something we love, so we don't mind doing it, kind of similar to how we take games. I can't look too far ahead. It's kind of taking a month as we go training. You always just want to be in tip top shape, whether it's for futsal or for football. So I think knowing that and knowing which one you go into, you just gotta give your best and put your best foot forward joining this tournament,” Guillou detailed.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News