BIÑAN, Laguna – The Philippine women’s football team was held to a scoreless draw by Myanmar at the start of the 30th Southeast Asian Games women’s football at the Biñan Football Stadium here.
The outcome allowed the two countries to share the top spot in Group A with one point each in the first-ever Malditas match held on Philippines soil in 10 years.
Quinley Quezada had two chances to score for the Malditas in the opening half with a free kick attempt and a close range try. Sarina Bolden also had a chance for the Philippines but her Tuesday night header was foiled.
Myanmar also had its chances in the second half but Malditas goal keeper Inna Palacios was on point with her defense.
Cam Rodriguez had the opportunity to seize the advantage for the Philippines but to no avail, too.
“This is the first time we drew against Myanmar. The result in this game is very far from our performance from the past years. I think our camp in Japan gave us a big help to improve the performance of the players,” said Malditas head coach Let Dimzon.
She added: “From the start, we were prepared to be mentally tough. Since we’ve been losing to Myanmar, what we did is we strengthen our frontline and transition play. We have a lot of chances coming from transition, coming from defending to attack.”
The Malditas will try to notch a victory against Malaysia on Friday evening for a chance to seal a seat in the crossover semifinals, while Myanmar will also try to do the same thing on Dec. 2 against Malaysia./PN
