THE Philippine women’s national football team demolished Chinese-Taipei, 4-1, in an early show of mastery on the pitch for the first-time participants to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
But the road to the Paris Olympics next year will be such a daunting task as the Filipinas face the mighty world 11th-ranked Australians known as the “Matildas,” and a semifinalist during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The task is made even more daunting as the game, originally to be played at the 20,500-seating capacity Perth Rectangular Stadium, was transferred to the cavernous 60,000-seater Potus Stadium, perhaps to accommodate more fans, more likely Australians.
The anticipation was at fever pitch that tickets were already sold out prior to the 3:10 pm match.
The world no. 44 Filipinas may be playing before an expected highly partisan crowd, but they welcome the challenge since it’s not new for them, having beaten New Zealand during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup right at their home turf.
An interesting side story is that the current coach of the Filipinas is Mark Torcaso, an Australian. However, he stressed that he will not be an Australian for that day but the coach of the Filipinas, and he vowed to do his best to coach the team for them to reach the goal that they have set out to achieve.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Philippine Women’s National Football Team Facebook page)