She has only been with the Philippine women's national football team since last October but Angela Beard already feels right at home with the Filipinas.

The 25-year-old defender was called up for her first camp last year, during the team's camp in Costa Rica. Recently, she was named to Alen Stajcic's 29-player pool for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023.

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"This is only my second camp, but I feel like I've made a lot of strong friendships, and a lot of good connections," said Beard, whose mother hails from Cebu City but was born and raised in Australia, in an introductory video released by the national team.

"The girls are not only talented footballers, but they're very welcoming, very friendly, and the fan group, the community, the Philippines have really accepted me and supported me in a way that makes me feel valued and respected as a player," she added.

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Beard played youth football for Australia, and had been capped three times by their senior team before she made her switch to the Philippines.

She plays club football for Western United FC in the A-League Women, with Filipinas midfielder Jaclyn Sawicki as one of her teammates. Beard also has a good relationship with Philippines head coach Alen Stajcic, whom she first met as a teenager.

"I've known Staj for a little while now. I think we met when I was 16, 17, 18, something like that, pretty young. He's a great coach, left a great impression with me, and a big factor as to why I came over here to the Philippines," she explained.

Despite joining the Filipinas camp relatively late, much is expected of Beard given her quality and experience. Before playing for Western United, she had played for Fortuna Hjørring in Denmark for two years, making 38 appearances.

The Fil-Australian defender said that as she gets to know more about the national team, she also hopes to learn more about her home country.

"I visited the Philippines a couple of times over the past six months. It's a very charming place, I think, a very exciting experience, being able to travel there and really connect myself to the culture in the country," she said.

"I'm hoping one day in the future to go back with my whole family and bring my mom back there, my brother and my dad, and just really connect there and see everyone that I really haven't seen in a long time."

The Philippines has yet to release its final roster of 23 players for the FIFA Women's World Cup. They are in Group A, along with co-host New Zealand, Switzerland, and Norway.

They play their first match against Switzerland on July 21 in Dunedin, New Zealand. They face host New Zealand on July 25 in Wellington, before traveling back to Auckland for the duel with Norway on July 30 to wrap up the group stage.

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