Filipinas near AFC Asian Cup berth with 6-0 thrashing of Cambodia in qualifiers

The Philippine women’s national football team Filipinas continued its commanding campaign in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers with a 6-0 thrashing of host nation Cambodia on Wednesday night, at the National Stadium in Phnom Penh.

The Filipinas officially moved closer from the tournament proper slated in Australia after grabbing six points and a superior +9 goal difference (GD) ahead of Hong Kong with its +1 GD as only the group winners are entitled to a spot in next year’s staging.

Coming back from an injury in style, Meryll Serrano, who involved herself in two goals in their 3-0 opening game against Saudi Arabia last Sunday, delivered a sensational brace for the Philippines.

Young midfielder Alexa Pino followed up on her debut goal for the Filipinas with an incredible shot from the top of the box at the 18th minute off a well-placed pass from Jackie Sawicki, who also celebrated her first goal for the squad last time out.

Not even a full minute later, the Philippines employed a similar piece of play that stunned the Cambodian defenders which allowed Serrano to double the lead.

With their dominance now in full swing, Serrano noticed that Cambodian keeper Chea Fariya was too far from her own post and the Filipina decided to catch her off guard by firing a shot all the way from her own half at 60 yards to complete her brace for the Philippines at the 36th minute.

Cambodian defender Somrit Nimol then scored an own goal off Sofia Harrison’s kick four minutes later instead of clearing the shot making the count 4-0 for the visiting country at the break.

Not unusual for her, Filipinas skipper Hali Long slotted in a goal after meeting a direct free kick from Angie Beard at the 48th minute.

With Philippine goalie Olivia McDaniel celebrating her 50th cap for the country with another clean-sheet, her sister Chandler McDaniel found a way to make it even more special 11 minutes into the second half as she collected the possession from Carleigh Frilles from the right side and struck a goal.

Up by six goals to none, it hardly mattered for the Filipinas that the game ended with both nations receiving a red card each for Nina Mathelus and Sem Malin in two separate occasions towards the end.

"To be honest, we watched Hong Kong against Cambodia. I was actually quite nervous about this game, but when we got the first and second goal, I thought we were doing good," Serrano said in a post-game conference. 

"I mean, it’s been a good two games now and I think we just have to keep going. We have one more game against Hong Kong and we really wanna go and get all the points."

The only thing standing in the way of the Philippines and another Asian Cup ticket is Hong Kong with its four points in Group G when they meet on Saturday.

The Filipinas battled the Hong Kong side in 2021 for the same stake. There, they pulled off a 2-1 win to play at the Asian Cup.

Should the Philippines replicate the same feat, it will be one of the 12 teams vying for eight direct slots allotted for the continent in the 2026 Women’s World Cup.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News