Former Gambia head coach Tom Saintfiet has been appointed Philippine national team new coach in a surprising deal.

The 50-year old Belgian tactician has been introduced to the media by the Philippine Football Federation on Monday morning.

Speaking on his new job, Tom Saintfiet said : “I was in need of an ambitious task — a project,” as per ESPN.

“My experience in national team football is that it’s not always the best players who win games. It’s personality, commitment. Playing for your country is the highest you can achieve.

“In the short term, we would like to create a team who believes still in that opportunity to be top two (in the group),” he said.

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“We are two points behind Vietnam. We need to steal points from Iraq.

“I have to see which players are available. We spoke in the last months with many players. Players who have played already and some players who will hopefully make their debut against Iraq.

“If everyone is onboard and believes in this project, I’m sure we will be ready to compete with the best in Asia and we will be there in 2027 for the (AFC) Asian Cup.”

Tom Sainfiet is a well-known fooballing figure in Africa as he coached Ethiopia, Togo, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Gambia national teams. After stepping down from his role in Gambia after the 2023 AFCON in ivory Coast, he was expected to take Cameroon or Algeria job but Philippine hired him to coach the Azkals.