IT was a fully deserved football title, a first-ever one for the Philippines, and it took a bunch of gritty women to do it in historic fashion in a likewise historic coliseum.
For the first time ever, the Philippines won the 2022 Asean Football Federation (AFF) championship in grand style against a proud Thailand women’s national football team, winning 3-0 in front of a raucous and football-loving crowd of more than 8,000 fans at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
It was a first-ever championship in any level for Philippine football, and what a way to do it on home soil.
Jessika Cowart gave the country its first goal on the 7th minute, followed up by Katrina Guillou on the 19th and finally, a header that bounced off a Thai player but found itself inside the goal, courtesy of Sarina Bolden at the 88th.
“It was a great performance and to do it in front of this crowd, football is alive in the Philippines, and it’s all that matters. They played 10 games in 25 days across two continents, and to finish like that, with so much spirit and determination, is really a testament to them,” Alen Stajcic, the Philippine Women’s National Football Team said in an interview made immediately after the win.
Next stop for the Filipinas is the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20, 2023.