MANILA – The Philippine women’s football team are headed to the 2022 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup slated from Jan. 20 to Feb. 6 in India.
The national squad completed a sweep of their Group F matches in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers via a 2-1 victory over Hong Kong at the JAR Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Tahnai Annis and Chandler McDaniel delivered the goals for the Philippine Malditas as they qualified for the continent’s biggest international competition for the 10th time.
The Philippines ended its qualification campaign for the continental tourney with six points. On the other hand, Hong Kong and Nepal got a point each.
The Philippines, which opened their qualifiers campaign with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Nepal, took the lead of the game immediately via a 17th minute conversion from Annis.
Hong Kong, however, showed some life in the second half with multiple shots on the goal before they connected a game-tying free kick at the 61st minute from captain Chung Pui Ki.
With only minutes left to spare in the contest, McDaniel scored with a fantastic strike to surge the national women’s football team ahead, 2-1, before they went on a tight defense to prevent the opposition from scoring.
Philippine Football Federation president Mariano Araneta lauded the members of the national women’s football team, led by head coach Marlon Maro, for achieving the milestone despite preparing under the pandemic situation.
“We are truly delighted by this remarkable achievement,” Araneta said. “Qualification to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup is a testament to the hard work and sacrifice made by the players and the coaching staff and the support of sponsors and stakeholders.”
“We cannot rest on this achievement. We will leave no stone unturned in preparing the team in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, where the Top 5 teams will qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023,” he added./PN
