Alas Pilipinas coach Angiolino Frigoni with his players during the Invitationals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Despite sweeping the three-day, four-team Invitationals, Alas Pilipinas coach Angiolino Frigoni emphasized that their work is far from done with less than 100 days left before the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship.
Alas, led by Marck Espejo’s 30-point explosion, rekindled its 2019 Southeast Asian Games silver medal magic with a five-set thriller over Thailand, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12, on Independence Day at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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“It’s not important to win or to lose because for these matches we can get information—by statistics, by emotion, to see if the players are good enough to compete and what we have to improve,” said Frigoni. “We are very happy, of course, that we won, right? But for us, it doesn’t mean anything. The trip to the World Championship and the Asian Games is very long. So we take this as a good start.”
With the Philippines set to host and compete in the World Championship from September 12 to 28 at Mall of Asia Arena and Smart Araneta Coliseum, Frigoni is keeping expectations grounded. The World No. 59 team is set to face powerhouse nations—No. 16 Iran, No. 22 Egypt, and No. 39 Tunisia.
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“I don’t know if we have enough time,” he admitted. “We will do our best to be good there. You know what our world ranking is, right? We are going to compete against Iran, against Egypt—which I know very well because I coached there—and against Tunisia. They are on another level in terms of ranking and volleyball.”
‘Big step’
Alas Pilipinas men during the last day of the Invitationals ahead of the FIVB Men’s World Championships. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
But Frigoni saw promise in how his team performed against Southeast Asian rival Thailand, as well as club teams Jakarta Bhayangkara Presisi and Hyundai Capital Skywalkers.
“I think we made a big step compared to our other matches,” he said. “We can be close to them. Last year, we were far from Thailand. Now, we’re closer. Today we win, tomorrow we can lose, but we’re close—and that’s very important for me.”
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The 71-year-old Italian tactician, who took over the program last year, will continue exposing the national training pool to international games. The next test will be the AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup in Bahrain from June 17 to 24.
Alas, which flies out on Sunday, is grouped with Thailand, Kazakhstan, and New Zealand in the preliminary round.
Frigoni said the final 14-man roster for the World Championship will come from a larger training pool, with no fixed timeline for selection.
“I don’t have any timetable. The timetable is one day before we have a general meeting before the World Championship,” he said. “I can select 18 players. We have a big group in case somebody gets injured, in case they’re out of condition, and everything. From them, I will select. The more opportunities they get to play, the better their chances of being in the 14.”
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Having witnessed strong fan support during the Invitationals, Frigoni encouraged more Filipino fans to rally behind their national team.
“Listen, I am very happy with the supporters. They give us a lot of energy,” he said. “I hope that there will be more. We played against Japan last year and most of the fans were cheering for Japan—not for us. I told them, please cheer for the Philippines, because we need your help.”
