By JONAS TERRADO
Games Sunday
(Rizal Memorial Stadium)
4 p.m. — Philippines vs Myanmar (Bronze)
8 p.m. — Thailand vs Vietnam (Gold)
BINAN, Laguna — The Philippines was relegated to a bronze medal match after suffering a 2-0 defeat to defending champion Vietnam in the women’s semifinals of the 30th Southeast Asian Games held Thursday at the Binan Football Stadium here.
Dreams of a stunning upset disappeared when the Malditas conceded two goals in the second half to end their gold medal hopes in front of 2,509 fans supporting flboth nations.
Thai Thi Tao struck the opener past the hour mark and Nguyen Tuyet Dung produced the insurance goal seven from normal time to seal Vietnam’s ticket to the final against Thailand.
Thailand claimed the other spot in the match for the gold after a 1-0 win over Myanmar at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Coach Let Dimzon’s side will take on Myanmar for a spot in the podium on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial for a chance to give the Philippines its best-ever finish in the biennial meet.
It would be interesting to see how things will translate after the Malditas held Myanmar to a scoreless draw in the tournament opener last Nov. 26 in this city.
But Myanmar may come in determined to erase that shock result and show up like the same team that downed the Philippines 3-0 in the third place in the AFF Women’s Championship earlier this year in Chonburi, Thailand.
Sara Castaneda almost scored the equalizer for the Malditas in the 73rd with a header past the keeper but officials ruled that she was offside.