Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 10) – Striker Sarina Bolden led the second half rampage of the Philippine women’s football team with a hat trick to beat Indonesia, 4-1, and secure a semifinals berth in the 2022 AFF Women’s Championship on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Filipinas remain unbeaten in Group A after four games with 12 points, enough to clinch a semifinals slot ahead of their last group stage match against regional football giant Thailand on Tuesday.
In the first half, the Filipinas had a hard time converting their open shots due to the hard-nosed defense displayed by the Indonesians inside the goal area.
The Indonesian team’s disciplined defense paid off in the 37th minute, as striker Carlo Bio Pattinasarany scored the maiden goal of the match off a passing error by Filipinas goalkeeper Inna Palacios.
Pattinasarany’s strike ended the clean sheet of the hosts, who blanked their previous three opponents in the group stage.
Staring at an unlikely one-goal halftime deficit, the Filipinas continued their aggressive push to attempt to secure a scoring opportunity, but head coach Alen Stajcic subbed in Katrina Guillou, Jaclyn Sawicki, and Sara Eggesvik to boost the squad’s second half push.
The Filipinas’ relentless scoring rampage in the second half started in the 48th minute, as team captain Tahnai Annis found an opening in the right flank, from a long cross by Sofia Harrison, to equalize the match, much to the delight of the 1,474 fans in attendance.
Bolden nailed her first strike in the 57th minute, as she converted a close range shot off an assist from substitute Eggesvik.
The 26-year-old forward scored again in the 63rd minute, as she completed a cross from Sawicki to give a 3-1 lead for the Filipinas.
Bolden registered her hat trick in the 66th minute, as she cleaned up her own miss to assert the Filipinas’ domination of Indonesia.
“It’s really special. It’s not every day that you get a hat trick at home with your national team. I really take pride in it but I could not do it alone,” said Bolden, who is now the top goal scorer of the tournament with five goals along with Australia’s Amy Sayer.
Stajcic credited Indonesia’s determination on the pitch for the Filipinas’ slow start in the first half, but praised his players’ bounce-back performance in the last 45 minutes of the critical game.
“In the second half, we showed that resilience was a really good quality…Probably one of the most important qualities you can have in a team is to be able to bounce back, remain composed and calm, and stick to your principles,” Stajcic said.
