Alas Pilipinas Men head coach Angiolino Frigoni. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News
MANILA — Italian mentor Angiolino Frigoni of Alas Pilipinas Men said Monday that he already has a final roster for the FIVB Men's World Championship 2025.
But he declined to disclose the lineup as he has yet to tell the players.
"I have [referring to the final roster] but I will not tell to the press before I tell the players," Frigoni told reporters during the FIVB Worlds' Media Day at the National Museum of Natural History in the nation's capital.
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"I will not tell you before I tell the players. I don’t know if Marck Espejo and Bryan Bagunas are in. They are practicing, they are back from their injuries."
The 71-year-old tactician was "happy" to see his players improve, citing upgrades in several facets of their game such as serving, blocking, and defense.
They took part in a three-country training camp in Europe before entering the competition, and even had a tune-up match against Portugal.
"I saw improvements, especially in defense and the organization of blocks. We serve better. We don’t make a lot of mistakes in serve, we serve better. I saw improvements, really," Frigoni said.
"I’m happy with how they practice, I’m happy with how they played in the last friendly matches. We improved a lot in one year. I don’t know if it will be enough to beat Tunisia in the first match. But until now, I’m pretty happy with what we did," he added.
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Hosts for a reason, Frigoni also called on Filipino fans to support them during the 32-nation contest—and not just the foreign teams—specifically during their opening match against Tunisia on September 12.
"Sir Tats [Ramon Suzara] said that he’s trying to bring 12,000 people. In my experience, when we played against Japan, Filipinos were cheering for Japan and not for the Philippines," he said.
"So, what I’m telling to the Filipinos, please come. We need you. As supporters, we need you because we are going to fight together against Tunisia. Don’t let us fight alone against Tunisia."
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