MANILA – The national women’s football team kicked off its AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 campaign with a historic 1-0 triumph over Thailand at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, India.
Forward Chandler McDaniel was the difference maker for the Malditas. Her second half conversion on late Friday night last week handed the country its first-ever victory against the Thais in 14 encounters.
“It’s a big weight off the shoulders of the players who’ve been in this team for a long time,” Malditas head coach Alen Stajcic on beating Thailand. “It’s fantastic but we’ve got to focus on our next game.”
The Malditas were aggressive to start the match with newcomer Katrina Guillou getting her attempts early. The 28-year-old had a goal disallowed for offside and then saw another attempt denied by the crossbar.
Philippines forward Quinley Quezada and Hali Long also had their attempts late in the first half but were foiled by the defense of Thai goalkeeper Waraporn Boonsing for a scoreless halftime score.
The national women’s football team continued their aggression in the second half until McDaniel’s attempt in the 81st minute was fumbled into the net by Boonsing to give the Philippines a 1-0 edge.
Stajcic said that the win was huge for the national squad, which were recently hampered by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic that forced some of the players to sit out.
However, it won’t be an easy task for Team Philippines at six in the evening tonight as they face powerhouse Australia, which came from a massive 18-0 domination over Indonesia last week.
“(The national women’s football team) are currently second place in our group. Being second obviously gives you a lot of confidence and most importantly three points,” Stajcic said.
“We have a big game against Australia who are such a powerful team and one of the best teams in the world,” added the foreigner coach, who came onboard the Malditas just two months ago./PN
