THE Filipinas completed the first step in their bid to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics late Tuesday night, scoring a methodical 4-0 sweep of Hong Kong to cap their sweep of Group A in the first round of the AFC Women’s Olympic qualifiers at the Hisor Central Stadium in Hisor, Tajikistan.
Striker Sarina Bolden scored a brace with markers in the fifth and 41st minutes while teammates Ma. Meryll Serrano (44th) and Quinley Quezada (53rd) also scored as the Nationals completed the first round without conceding a goal.
The charges of Australian coach Alen Stajcic began the single-round series with a 4-0 win over Pakistan last April 5, then crushed host Tajikistan 8-0 over the weekend to top the group and reach the next phase of the qualifying competition where they will be pitted against the continent’s titans.
“I thought we played very well, we controlled the game well, probably the best control we’ve had this week here against good opposition,” Stajcic said. “Against opposition that we beat 2-1 just a few months ago shows how much we have improved.”
As his wont, the Aussie tactician remained grounded, stressing that “a lot of parts have improved but our finishing needs to get better if we are to compete with the big nations in Asia. We have done well and improved a lot but there is still a lot of hard work to do.
“As you well know, there is no easy match in football; it’s difficult and you have to respect your opponent and coming up with the big nations in the next round against Australia, Japan, and the Koreas (North and South), Thailand and Vietnam. So it is going to be very difficult for us. We need to get ready,” he added.
Bolden, who scored raised her international tally for the country to 20 goals, was generally satisfied by the way she and her teammates performed.
“I think it was a good performance; we dominated. Coach tried to talk about us being ruthless, not just beating our teams but making our stamp, making a statement. And we did that today. We are proud of ourselves and happy to move on to the next round,” Bolden said.
The second round in October will be a daunting gauntlet with seeded countries Australia, Japan, China, Chinese-Taipei, South Korea and Vietnam, which drew opening-round byes, joining the fray together with the six first-round group topnotchers.
The second-round draw, which will be held at the Asian Football Confederation headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at a still to be announced date, will have the 12 teams being placed in four pots to decide the three brackets of four teams each.
The Philippines is in the third pot together with Thailand and Uzbekistan.
The tournament served as an ideal tune-up for the Filipinas, who are gearing to surpass their previous bronze medal finish in the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games when the Cambodia Games kick off next month.
They were drawn in Group A with two-time defending champion Vietnam, Myanmar and Malaysia, and will open their drive against the Burmese on May 3 at the RCAF Old Stadium in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
