Freshly retired, Tahnai Annis takes a stroll down memory lane and recounts the highlights of her Filipinas career.
There were multiple highs and lows for former Filipinas captain Tahnai Annis in her seven-year stint with the Philippine Women’s National Football Team, as she saw the program progress rapidly.
Annis, who recently announced her retirement from the Filipinas in late December, was part of the formative years of the program in the late 2010s, but also experienced program-best results at the turn of the decade.
Despite being one of the veterans in the team, Annis continuously impacted the team at a high level, both by her skills on the pitch and her leadership.
Looking back at her decorated career, Annis spoke about being able to experience the meteoric rise of the Filipinas in recent years.
“It’s a completely different organization. It’s a total 180. It’s been really really amazing to be a part of both ends of that. To see how much it has progressed over the years and I’m just really grateful that I was able to be a part of it then and then see the growth all the way until now,” said Annis on an interview on Power & Play.
As for the highlights of her career, Annis had no hesitation in cherry picking the most successful moments of the team as those that she thoroughly enjoyed.
Annis named three top moments in her career starting with the pivotal penalty shootout against Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals of the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India, where the Filipinas battled to a stalemate after added time.
With a spot in the World Cup on the line, Annis and the Filipinas eked out the win that echoed across Filipino football fans everywhere.
“That penalty shootout was insane,” said Annis fondly.
“I was fortunate enough to take one of them and so, that moment of you know, getting to take that penalty kick and then you know, later our team winning that shootout and qualifying for the World Cup for the first time was really surreal.”
Of course, it was a no-brainer that getting to play in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand would also be on Annis’ list, as they also notched a historic victory over the hosts thanks to a powerful header by Sarina Bolden.
Stepping foot on women’s football’s biggest stage was something immensely special for 35-year-old.
“I would say my second [highlight] was just representing the Philippines at the World Cup in New Zealand in 2023,” said Annis.
“Being in that full stadium and just surrounded by Filipinos from everywhere, feeling that support. It felt like a home game. Feeling that amount of support and love for our team, you can’t really describe what that’s like,” she added.
But what took the cake for Annis was a special moment that some may consider sub-par compared to the World Cup.
There was something that couldn’t be replaced, though, and it was being able to play in Philippine soil.
In front of thousands of fans in Rizal Memorial Stadium, Annis said that her biggest highlight of being in the Filipinas was the historic 2022 AFF Women’s Championship win, where they drubbed regional powerhouse Thailand, 3-nil.
Marking the first time that a Philippine team won an international football tournament at any level, Annis said that it was an experience like no other.
“When we won AFF in 2022 in Manila in the Philippines, at Rizal, nothing lived up to that moment,” remarked the former captain.
“We played such a good tournament and just watching the fan base increase from our first match against Australia and seeing how many people were out there to support us in the final match, it was really special and it was really special to win our first championship, first gold medal ever in front of our home crowd,” she added.
As Annis steps aside from her national team career as a player, Annis affirmed that she will still continue to work with the team on a different capacity with the youth program as she also explores options for her future in the sport.
“I’m definitely am still going to be involved with our national team, with our youth teams, working with the U20s with the upcoming year. They have a big year with matches and tournaments… I hope to be involved, especially after I worked with them with their Asian Cup in Indonesia,” she said.