Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) – The Philippine women’s football team has proven they deserve to get the country’s much awaited first World Cup berth after a dominating win versus Indonesia.
“The team just keeps raising the bar,” said head coach Alen Stajcic after the squad’s 6-0 victory on Thursday in their final 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup group stage fixture.
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The win over Indonesia enabled the Philippines to reach the Women’s Asian Cup knockout stage for the first time in the continental football tournament.
The victors also produced their best Women’s Asian Cup group stage finish with two wins, after trouncing Southeast Asian football giant Thailand in their first game last Jan. 21. They bowed to world no. 11 Australia, 0-4, last Jan. 24.
Stajcic emphasized the morale-boost achieved by the Filipino ladies should help them reach their ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“Everytime we put in performances like that and played two and a half games of really good football, you just keep rising and exceeding the expectations of what we know and what we have achieved,” said Stajcic, who was hired to coach the team October last year.
Team captain Tahnai Annis, who led the Philippine onslaught against Indonesia with two goals, said their focus is to keep their mindset and embrace all the acknowledgements they get from what could be a historic Asian Cup run for the team.
“We’re not finished yet, so we can’t get complacent from where we are. It is also important to embrace how far we’ve come and all the things we’ve accomplished thus far,” Annis said during the post-match press conference.
Midfielder Jessica Miclat, who scored the country’s fourth goal in the Indonesia match through a penalty kick in the 73rd minute, shared that every game is a learning experience for the Philippine side.
“Every game we’ve had, we learn from and we have grown as a team. The fact that we haven’t had the close to perfect game as a team is a good thing. The target on our back now is the compliment to the team and how hard we’ve worked. Because now, a lot of teams don’t underestimate us anymore because of how hard we’ve worked throughout the group stage matches,” said Miclat.
Defender Dominique Randle, who started in all the three group stage matches in her first tournament for the Philippines, said they needed to apply things they learned from previous games as they head to their crucial quarterfinals match against Chinese Taipei on Sunday.
“I think a lot of people have called us underdogs. We know how strong we can be. As long as we believe in ourselves and we believe in our country and we can all put those aspects together, Sunday’s game will be really exciting,” said Randle.
A win against Chinese Taipei on Sunday will send them to their historic first Women’s World Cup berth.
Five teams from Asia will be rewarded with the World Cup slot, with Australia being automatically qualified as hosts of the international football tournament.
