MANILA – Negrense Charisa Marie Lemoran will banner the country’s 22-player women’s football team in the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 qualifiers, which kick off today in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
This will be the San Carlos City, Negros Occidental-native’s fourth call-up to the Philippine Malditas, following her participation in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games and the 2018 and 2019 editions of the Asian Football Federation’s Women’s Championship.
The 22-year-old Lemoran was a staple in football tournaments in Negros Occidental, leading San Carlos City to multiple titles before being recruited by the University of Santo Tomas in 2016.
Aside from Lemoran, other members of the Malditas were co-team captains Inna Palacios and Hali Long, Anicka Castaneda, Tahnai Annis, Jessica Miclat, Ryley Bugay, Arianna LePage, and Isabelle Mapanao. Rounding out the squad are Olivia McDaniel, Sofia Harrison, Chelo Hodges, Tara Shelton, Patricia Tomanon, Sara Castaneda, Malea Cesar, Rocelle Mendano, Camille Rodriguez, Alyssa Ube, Camille Wilson, Alisha Del Campo, and Chandler McDaniel.
Marlon Maro will be the team’s head coach, which is backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and the MVP Sports Foundation. He is assisted by Michael Agbayani, Jose Maria Aberasturi, Marlon Pinero, Anthony Albao, and Rose Ton Barinan.
The squad had online training sessions in preparation for the qualifiers, followed by a training camp in Irvine, California in the United States of America, from Aug. 4 to Sept. 11.
The Malditas will open the qualifiers against Nepal at 3 p.m. (6 p.m. local time) today at the JAR Stadium, before capping the qualifiers on Sept. 24 against Hong Kong at 3 p.m. (6 p.m. time).
The squad aims for two consecutive victories, as only the team that tops its group qualifies for the tournament proper, which runs from Jan. 20 to Feb. 6.
The 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India will be the Asian continent’s last qualification phase for the 2023 International Federation of Association Football Women’s World Cup./PN
