Filipinas fall short against experienced Thailand in SEA Games football semis: ‘They were the better team’

On Wednesday, the Philippines Women’s Football Team fell 3-0 to a classy Thailand in the semifinals of the 31st SEA Games being held in Cam Pha, Vietnam.

The Philippines entered the game knowing that victory would assure themselves of at least a silver medal, and they started strongly from the opening whistle.

Coach Alen Stajcic fielded his strongest available starting eleven, with Sarina Bolden pairing up with fellow Japan WE League player Quinley Quezada up front.

And the two were at the forefront of the Filipinas’ threats in the early goings.

However, Thailand did not take long to provide a response, and pressured the Filipinas into making errors, resulting in a goal for the Thais in the 21st minute.

The Philippines beat Thailand in the AFC Asian Cup group stages early this year, and this no doubt served as inspiration for the Thais as they looked to avenge their loss to the Filipinas.

In the last ten minutes of the first half though, it was the Filipinas who picked up their game a notch as they looked for the equalizer, with Sarina Bolden delivering crosses from the left wing and captain Tahnai Annis giving quality balls from set pieces.

However, Thailand were resolute and held on for a slim 1-0 lead at the break.

Hopes were high that the strong end to the first half for the Filipinas would carry over to the second half, but Thailand immediately put the Philippines under the sword with an early second half goal, leaving the Philippines with a veritable mountain to climb.

Teerasil Dangda has long been the Philippines’ tormentor in the Suzuki Cup, and this time around it was his sister Taneekarn Dangda who found space against Hali Long and shot, leaving no goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel with no chance.

From then on, Thailand went from strength to strength as the Philippines valiantly tried to get at least a goal back, to no avail.

Thailand went on to add another goal in the 91st minute, completing a comprehensive victory against the Philippines.

“Thailand were the better team, no doubt. Their passing was better, their movement was better, their finishing was better,” said Stajcic after the match.

He was also brutally honest about his team’s performance on the night.

“Our passing was pretty poor tonight and our marking in the box wasn’t very good. It was better against Vietnam and today against a good opponent, it wasn’t good enough and we were punished.”

Having played one less opponent, the Filipinas came into the game with a week’s rest, but Stajcic doesn’t make any excuses for the loss.

“Preparation for this match was the same for the other matches. Sometimes you play well, sometimes you don’t and today we didn’t have the quality and we were punished by the better team. It’s pretty simple.”

All is not lost for the Philippines though, as there is the small matter of a bronze medal still at stake, against Myanmar or hosts Vietnam.

Having not won a medal of any kind, and not been on the podium for the better part of nearly 30 years, getting the bronze medal would still be a fantastic achievement.

But to do that, the team must lick their wounds, recover, and lift themselves up for the pivotal match on Saturday.

More importantly, the Filipinas have to play better and rise up to the levels that propelled them to qualification to the FIFA World Cup 2023 in the first place.

Qualification to the football world’s grandest stage has meant that expectations were also raised for the Filipinas. But it is well worth remembering that compared to our other more pedigreed neighbors, Philippines’ women’s football is just starting its journey.

“We’re only emerging at this level. Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar have been playing at this level for the last 10-12 years,” said Stajcic. “I remember Vietnam and Thailand were losing by big scores. That’s part of the learning, part of the journey and we’ve only just started on this journey on this level of football.”

“We haven’t been in this level of football for quite a long time. We’ve only been at the last Asian Cup in Jordan and in India so you know we’re gonna get 4-5 years at this level compared to Vietnam and Thailand. And these players in Thailand have been to 2 World Cups, 3-4 Asian Cups, they all had more than 100 caps and they showed their experience and quality and for us it’s a learning curve.”

“We’re new at this level and we’ll get better, we have no fear about that.”

—JMB, GMA News