MANILA – The Philippine Girls Under-15 National Team saw its AFF U15 Girls’ Championship campaign come to an end after a 3-1 loss to Laos in the semifinals on Sunday night at the Institute of Physical Education in Chonburi, Thailand.
Angely Alferez was the lone goal scorer for the Ching delos Reyes-mentored Philippine squad, which is bound to improve on its fifth place finish in the 2018 edition in Indonesia.
Laos immediately imposed its dominance over the Philippine squad by firing two early goals. The Filipinas has scarce chance on the goal due to the tight defense of their opponent.
Philippines managed to pull one back at the onset of the second half courtesy of Alferez conversion but that proved to be their last as the Laos was able to rebuild its two-goal edge.
“Each tournament is a challenge. We hope that whatever this team has achieved in the past, we could better it,” Delos Reyes said. “Everyone did their best. Everyone showed that they deserve to be part of this team.”
The Philippine U-15 squad hopes to salvage a bronze medal finish in the tournament when it faces Vietnam, which was defeated by defending champions Thailand in the other semifinals game.
During their first encounter in the tournament, the Philippine delegation suffered a 2-0 defeat to Vietnamese./PN
