Are you still a non-believer?
The Philippine national women’s football program is the real deal. The Filipinas have been proving it for quite a while, and made most evident in their landmark FIFA World Cup appearance, where they also nabbed their first-ever win in the beautiful game's biggest stage.
The history-making habit of these lady booters is undeniable and it has now trickled down to the junior squad.
On Sunday, the Filipinas U17 team achieved a groundbreaking win to get a spot in the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup for the first time in history. Facing host nation Vietnam, the 17-and-under Filipinas came through and delivered a 1-0 victory. The winning goal came at the 56th minute through a beautifully executed long free kick, courtesy of Isabella Preston.
“I knew I could score from a long-distance range so I just trusted myself and went through it,” Preston said post-match in a video uploaded by the national team.
“And then when it went in, I was in complete awe. We got a goal and we just defended it. It was an amazing effort from the girls. And we made history. And we’re finally going to the Asian Cup,” she continued.
Team captain Ari Markey is glad to see their efforts lead to such breakthrough. They already have big goals in the regional tournament, which will be hosted by Indonesia next year.
“We built up for this exact moment and we’re so excited to go to the Asian Cup and we’re going to crush out there. And we’ll put it all out there as well. We’re going to put it all in,” Markey claimed. “Let’s go, Filipinas!”
Filipinas U17 coach Sinisa Cohadzic was extremely pleased with his wards. He wishes that the rest of the country show their appreciation for the young booters’ excellent showing.
“The defensive performance of these girls is just amazing. Such a big result in such a big stage, Filipinos should all be proud of these girls, and let’s go to the next step,” said Coach Sinisa.
Just like the Philippines, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, China, Thailand, Australia and Indonesia have also qualified for the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup.
(GM)