The next big star of Philippine sports might have just introduced herself—in the international stage no less.
The under-17 Philippine Women’s National Football Team (PWNFT) opened its 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U17 Women's Asian Cup qualification campaign with a rousing win, trouncing host Guam, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at the GFA National Training Center.
Starring for the Filipinas was the precocious Nina Mathelus, who scored all of the team’s three goals for an emphatic hat trick. Mathelus opened the scoring in the 29th minute off an assist from Ariana Markey for her first ever international goal—one that would have been memorable enough for the young Filipina. But then she added another goal in the 31st minute and then another in the 76th minute to complete the impressive feat.
“I’m really excited,” said Mathelus in a reel posted in the Filipinas’ official Instagram account. “First international goals. Great way to start off my career.”
Indeed, it was a great start to what has the makings of a long, illustrious career for the incredibly talented Mathelus, who credited both teams for a very tough, competitive match.
“It was a really good game. We played really well,” Mathelus added. “The other team they really put up a fight. It was really hard. But our team played really well. Great job to everyone, great job to the coaches.”
Mathelus also admitted that the Filipinas have been hard at work these past few weeks in preparation for these qualifiers. But those days of hard work seem to be paying off immediately, especially for the amiable Filipina.
"The last few weeks have been really hard,” admitted Mathelus. “It taught me a lot.”
It appears Mathelus has put those lessons to good use already. And she probably has more up in her sleeves in the coming games.
So, as Mathelus proclaimed in the same IG reel, “Laban Pilipinas!”