Amid the celebrations of the Philippine sweep of the Alas Pilipinas Invitationals, head coach Angiolino Frigoni reiterated the need to temper expectations with much tougher events lined up and only three months left before the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2025.
“I don’t know if we have enough time,” the 71-year-old Italian coach said when asked about the Philippine team’s preparations for the worlds the country is hosting from September 12 to 28. “We will do our best to be good there.”
Frigoni praised the team for a splendid performance in the Alas Pilipinas Invitationals with the Marck Espejo-led squad closing the event with a victory— a five-set thriller against the Thailand national team on Independence Day at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“The three matches [Invitationals], we had bad moments,” he said. “But we didn’t give up. We stay there and we play. And that is what I like.”
Owa Retamar was steady as usual, Steven Rotter was consistent throughout, Louie Ramirez proved to be an impact player, while Peng Taguibolos and Kim Malabunga provided a steady net defense and great support on offense as Alas Pilipinas scored four-set wins over South Korean club Hyundai Capital Skywalkers
and Indonesian pro league champion Jakarta Bhayangkara Presisi.
Frigoni said he is pleased Alas Pilipinas, ranked No. 59 in the world, is closing the gap on its regional rivals but noted it’s much different on the world stage as the hosts play No. 16 Iran, 22nd-ranked Egypt and No. 39 Tunisia in pool play of the world championship.
“You know which ranking you are in the world, right?” Frigoni stressed. “We are going to compete against Iran in the world championship. Against Egypt that I know very well because I was coaching there a long time ago.
“And again Tunisia. So they are in another level of ranking and in another level of volleyball,” he said.
“But I think that we can be close to them because also last year we were far from Thailand. And now we are more close,” he said. “I mean, today we win, tomorrow we can lose, but we are close to them. You know, and that for me is very important.”
Alas Pilipinas will savor its three-match romp but only for a short while as focus shifts to the Asian Volleyball Confederation Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup which reels off on Tuesday in Bahrain.
There, the Philippines will have an early rematch with Thailand, while Kazakhstan and New Zealand are also in the same pool.
The AVC Nations Cup defending champion Qatar is also set to see action in the world championships.
After that, the grind continues for Alas Pilipinas with training stints with World Championship-bound Romania, Portugal and Chile.
