After a strong 4-1 victory over Taiwan in the first match, the Philippine women’s team enthusiastically entered the confrontation with the number 1 candidate in Group A, Australia.
However, the excitement of coach Alen Stajcic’s team was quickly extinguished by the class difference from the girls of the kangaroo country. Mary Fowler opened the scoring for the visitors in the 15th minute before she assisted Sam Kerr to double the lead four minutes later. Kerr also had 2 more goals in minutes 45+2 and 46 to complete his own hat trick in this match. The Chelsea star is not the only name with a hat trick against the Philippines today.
Australia firmly holds the top ticket in Group A for the second qualifying round of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo: AFC.
Another star also playing in England’s No. 1 women’s tournament (Women’s Super League), Caitlin Foord (Manchester City), also had 3 goals in the 30th, 34th and 56th minutes, thereby putting Australia ahead. led 7-0 before Clare Wheeler tied the score in the 72nd minute.
In the last minutes, although coach Tony Gustavsson directed his players to slow down to preserve their strength, that did not help the Philippines create much trouble and had to accept a 0-8 loss to Australia.
In the final match, the Philippines will meet Iran, a team with only 1 point from the draw with Taiwan after 2 matches. A victory will help coach Alen Stajcic’s students have the opportunity to compete for the ticket to the best 2nd ranked team. As long as Korea and China draw in the final match of Group B, the opportunity will be given to the ‘Feisty ladies’.
Philippine naturalized players are powerless against Australian stars. Photo: AFC.
Also in the second match, Thailand had a commendable match, only losing to the reigning Asian champions, China with a score of 0-3. Yan Jinjin opened the score in the 15th minute, but it was not until the 68th minute that the representative of the country of billions of people was able to double the gap thanks to Chen Qiaozhu. Wurigumula set the score in the 80th minute. This result caused Thailand to be officially eliminated after 2 defeats regardless of the result in the last match.
Meanwhile, both South Korea and China need a victory in the final match to hope to win a ticket to the next qualifying round when North Korea will almost certainly defeat the team considered the weakest in Group B, Thailand. Lan in the remaining match.
Also in today’s match, Japan had a gentle 2-0 victory in Group C against host Uzbekistan. Coach Ikeda Futoshi and his team will face the Vietnamese team in the final match. And as long as they don’t lose, Nadeshiko Japan will officially win tickets to the final qualifying round with the top ticket.
Nam Thanh | 20:14 October 29, 2023
