In his fifth State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. highlights achievements by Filipino athletes including tennis player Alex Eala and the Philippines women’s national football team. Marcos credits Alex Eala’s recent success as a source of inspiration and says it can encourage more Filipinos to take up sports beyond tennis. He also draws attention to the Philippine Women’s National Football Team’s qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, presenting it as a model for greater participation in football. The President expresses hope that this momentum helps sports such as football grow in the country and encourages wider involvement at the grassroots level. In addition, he says he wants Filipinos to be motivated not only to watch or support, but to learn and play other sports, using the women’s football team’s performance and international berth as an example. Marcos further connects the sports achievements he cites to a longer-term goal of greater development, including the possibility of Philippine participation in a men’s FIFA World Cup in the future.