SEA Games disappointment should provide motivation for Filipinas in World Cup

It’s been more than a week since the Philippines crashed out of the women’s football competition in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games, going out in the group stages despite beating defending champions Vietnam on the last matchday.

The feeling of what could have been still lingers, most especially since the aforementioned Vietnamese team, which the Filipinas beat 2-1, was eventually crowned as the SEA Games champions.

Speaking at the unveiling of the official adidas World Cup jerseys in Manila, goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel shared the same sentiment.

“We were looking at the scores when we were all here together and a lot of us thought that that should have been us, we could have won this whole thing,” she said.

The SEA Games, conceivably, was a tournament where the Filipinas were expected by many fans to do well.

A bronze medal finish last time out, coupled with victory against these very same opponents at the 2022 AFF Championships, meant that fans were reasonably optimistic about the team’s chances of at least securing a final four place.

But an opening day defeat to Myanmar, coupled with the inability to get a high-scoring victory over Malaysia for tiebreak purposes, resulted in the Philippines missing out on a podium finish in this regional competition, much to the disappointment of the Filipinas’ fans.

But was it a total disaster, as some make it to be?

From the perspective of being a World Cup-bound team who had won a championship against some of these very same teams, it will be perceived as a disappointment.

Hopes were high for the Filipinas, who were also coming off an impressive first round of Olympic qualifiers, where the team won three of three games, whilst scoring 16 goals without reply, albeit against weaker competition.

Some fans however, will be quick to leap to the team’s defense.

The Filipinas were missing key players who were unavailable because it was not a FIFA window; and perhaps after playing European and South American competition, the style of football from our Southeast Asian neighbors needed a bit of getting used to.

But from the perspective of a temporary setback in the build-up to the FIFA World Cup and beyond, no, the SEA Games campaign was not a failure.

As former NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said recently: “There's no failure in sports. You work towards a goal. It’s not a failure; it’s steps to success."

And in that context, one can view the Filipinas’ campaign as yet another step to success, particularly with the FIFA World Cup looming in a little over two months’ time.

There is massive room for improvement, and the players know this only too well.

McDaniel admitted, “It wasn’t the result we wanted. We wanted to do better than bronze from last year, but every moment is a learning curve and a learning process and I think we learned a lot from this tournament and we are going to take some time to reflect and some good things came from it as well.”

Naturally, there are positives from the SEA Games, not least being able to beat the champions two times on the trot.

“Beating Vietnam two times in a row is a big deal after having had a history of not playing well against them, so I think that will give us a boost going into what’s next for us,” said McDaniel.

“I think that will just boost morale for us going forward.”

Defender Sofia Harrison enthused: “We beat Vietnam twice and it’s something we have never accomplished before so we just have to look back and be proud of ourselves.”

“We expected to perform better and that’s kind of like the gear that shifted in the last year is that we want to win and we know that we can win, and when we don’t, we’re kinda disappointed,” defender Maya Alcantara further expounded.

“I think it’s a good lesson to learn going into the World Cup, there’s some things we need to work on and it’s over now, lessons learned, and ready to work.”

Personally, it is better for the Filipinas to be dealt this blow and have the team taste the bitter pill of defeat and disappointment now, and serve as motivation to do well in the world stage that is the FIFA Women’s World Cup in July.

If this setback serves only to add fire and spirit to the team going forward, then it will be a setback worth suffering from.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News