Pinay booters force Uzbekistan to 3-3 draw

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SUSTAINING their amazing outing, the Filipina5 held fancied Uzbekistan to a spine-tingling 3-all standoff last Tuesday night to wheel into second spot in Group C of the AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup qualifying tournament before a stunned hometown crowd at the Yusunob Sports Complex in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Judy Connolly made certain the efforts of the Nationals would not be wasted, scoring the equalizer from the right wing on a quick counterattack with barely two minutes left after Uzbek forward Lyudmila Karachick had seemingly scored the winning goal just a scant second earlier.

Women’s World Cup veteran Isabella Flanigan played a huge role in the two country’s two other goals, booting in the first marker in the fourth minute from the left wing just outside the arc, lobbing it over the Uzbek goalie, who foiled an earlier follow-up by Katrina Guillou.

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In a spectacular play, the 19-year-old native of Fairmont, West Virginia then zipped a diagonal pass 11 minutes later to the left flank for the rushing Guillou, who made the assist count that gave the wards of newly-appointed coach Rafa Merino a 2-1 halftime lead.

The bull-strong Karachi scored a brace, her first goal in the 22nd as she came barreling down the center to blast past PH goalie Sammy Hughes while the other Uzbek goal came from long-haired Nilufar Kudratova in the seventh minute.

Other than those three markers by their higher-ranked rivals, who are No. 18 in FIFA women’s futsal ratings to No. 59 of their opponents, Hughes was again outstanding at the net with at least a half-dozen saves, preserving the draw to boost the Filipinas to solo second place with four points.

In the other group match, Australia shut out Kuwait 5-0 for its second victory in a row to maintain its firm grip on first place with six points.

The Philippines will aim to maintain its lofty standing when it takes on today another higher-ranked squad in Turkmenistan (No. 38), which will be angling to bounce back from its 1-6 loss to the Aussies last week, at 3 p.m. (6 p.m. Manila time).

The top two teams in the group after the single-round series will advance to the main draw of the AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup to be held from May 7 to 18 in China.

With barely a month to prepare, the current performance of the Filipina5 bodes well when the country hosts the inaugural FIFA Women’s Futsal World Cup in late November.

Under Merino, they showed they were no pushovers as they took what the hosts had to offer and gave it back to them in equal measure – if not more.

The stalemate also underscored the exciting unpredictability of futsal, or indoor football, where one cannot let his guard down until the final whistle, as Uzbekistan did when the hosts celebrated prematurely after Karachick’s marker.

Should they get left out in the cold of the first Women’s Futsal World Cup, the charges of coach Kamola Usmanova may rue their complacency in the dying minutes of a winnable match that ended in a draw before their disappointed hometown fans.

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