By CARLO ANOLIN
With a dream start and a magical finish, the Philippines zoomed to the top of the Asean football like a rocket.
And they proclaimed their new-found status in grand fashion, bringing many-time champion Thailand down to its knees with a masterful 3-0 victory to win their first-ever AFF Women’s Championship crown on a rainy Sunday night, July 17.
Energized by 8,257-strong crowd at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, the Filipinas hinted of good things to come by breaking the ice after only seven minutes and doubled it 12 minutes later.
Fittingly enough, the wondrous night was capped by Sarina’s Bolden superb header in the 88th minute – her 8th goal in the two-week tournament – that all but hammered the final nail in the Thailand coffin.
The win was a fitting sequel to their 4-0 demolition of reigning titlist Vietnam on Friday and a redemption of sort after absorbing a 1-0 defeat in their battle for No.m 1 seed in their group stage.
The victory also marked the Philippines’ first international title in the football scene and also saw a huge improvement from its fourth-place finish in the 2019 edition held in Chonburi, Thailand.
“That’s just exhilarating, isn’t it? To have that performance, this crowd. Football’s alive in the Philippines and that’s all that matters,” said Filipinas head coach Alen Stajcic. “We’ve climbed a little hill tonight. We’ve conquered Southeast Asia but I know there are big mountains ahead in the rest of Asia and the World Cup next year.
“So it’s a great hill to climb but I know there are bigger battles ahead,” added the Australian mentor.
As early as the seventh minute, Jessika Cowart converted a header off a Tahnai Annis corner pass to set the pace for the World Cup-bound Filipinas. Jaclyn Sawicki displayed superb ball control after two resets and paved the way for Katrina Guillou’s goal at the 19th mark.
Just before half time, Quinley Quezada almost delivered another header but the ball went over the crossbar as the Thais trailed.
The Filipinas clamped down on their defense even as goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel secured a couple of crucial saves in the second half.
Just moments away from celebration, Bolden delivered her eighth overall goal off a corner kick from Sara Eggesvik that sparked another wild celebration from the loyal fans.
Dream start, big finish power Filipinas to Asean football summit
By CARLO ANOLIN
With a dream start and a magical finish, the Philippines zoomed to the top of the Asean football like a rocket.
And they proclaimed their new-found status in grand fashion, bringing many-time champion Thailand down to its knees with a masterful 3-0 victory to win their first-ever AFF Women’s Championship crown on a rainy Sunday night, July 17.
Energized by 8,257-strong crowd at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, the Filipinas hinted of good things to come by breaking the ice after only seven minutes and doubled it 12 minutes later.
Fittingly enough, the wondrous night was capped by Sarina’s Bolden superb header in the 88th minute – her 8th goal in the two-week tournament – that all but hammered the final nail in the Thailand coffin.
The win was a fitting sequel to their 4-0 demolition of reigning titlist Vietnam on Friday and a redemption of sort after absorbing a 1-0 defeat in their battle for No.m 1 seed in their group stage.
The victory also marked the Philippines’ first international title in the football scene and also saw a huge improvement from its fourth-place finish in the 2019 edition held in Chonburi, Thailand.
“That’s just exhilarating, isn’t it? To have that performance, this crowd. Football’s alive in the Philippines and that’s all that matters,” said Filipinas head coach Alen Stajcic. “We’ve climbed a little hill tonight. We’ve conquered Southeast Asia but I know there are big mountains ahead in the rest of Asia and the World Cup next year.
“So it’s a great hill to climb but I know there are bigger battles ahead,” added the Australian mentor.
As early as the seventh minute, Jessika Cowart converted a header off a Tahnai Annis corner pass to set the pace for the World Cup-bound Filipinas. Jaclyn Sawicki displayed superb ball control after two resets and paved the way for Katrina Guillou’s goal at the 19th mark.
Just before half time, Quinley Quezada almost delivered another header but the ball went over the crossbar as the Thais trailed.
The Filipinas clamped down on their defense even as goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel secured a couple of crucial saves in the second half.
Just moments away from celebration, Bolden delivered her eighth overall goal off a corner kick from Sara Eggesvik that sparked another wild celebration from the loyal fans.
