By CARLO ANOLIN
Veteran Sarina Bolden produced a stunning goal in the 59th minute and lifted the Philippine women’s football team to a historic win over the taller and heftier Australian side, 1-0, in the 2022 AFF Women’s Championship campaign on a rainy Monday night, July 4 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Not even the continuous drizzle could stop the Filipinas from scoring a win of epic proportions as Bolden rose above the fray to come out with a powerful header – big thanks to a long throw in of Eva Madarang.
That sequence of play proved majestic for the Filipinas as they successfully brought the fancied under-23 Aussie squad down to its knees to the roaring cheers of some 1,500 home crowd.
“This is an amazing win for us. As I said earlier it does not matter whether this was Australia’s Under-23 squad this is a very tough squad that ranks among the top in the world so winning against them was a good one,” said ecstatic PH women’s squad coach Alan Stajcic of Australia. The valiant win was worth three points, putting the Filipinas in the same level with Thailand, which, at the same time over at Binan Football Stadium, routed Indonesia, 4-0.
Bolden actually had another chance but the ball whizzed past just above the post.
Desperate to turn the game around, the Aussies attacked with ferocity, making several dangerous attempts that made crowd nervy.
But PH keeper Olivia McDaniel proved equal to task, denying the Aussies time and again, including a clean attempt from Sheridan Gallagher.
Madarang also had a crucial steal in the waning minutes which paved the way for a swift strike from Sara Eggesvik but Australian goalie Jada Mathyssen-Whyman handily caught the ball.
Earlier at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, Singapore and Malaysia settled for a scoreless draw