THE Philippine campaign in the Asean Football Federation Women’s Futsal Championship ended on a sour note last Wednesday night when it absorbed a stinging 1-2 loss to Indonesia at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
With the score tied at 1-1 with barely a minute left in the pulsating match, Nisma Francida struck from the right wing off a corner kick, the ball slipping through the legs of PH goalie Samantha Hughes for the winning goal.
National team skipper Isabella Marie Bandoja had leveled the count earlier in the 12th minute, slipping past one defender for a 10-foot blast from the left wing, after Alya Ananda Hendrita’s opening marker in the seventh minute.
The Indonesians advanced to the battle for third place against Myanmar at 4 p.m. yesterday while sidelining the hosts, who absorbed their third straight loss after an initial 2-al draw against the Burmese.
In a battle of unbeaten squads, Thailand trounced Vietnam 3-0 in the other match. The two sides played for the championship at 7 last night in the tournament organized by the Philippine Football Federation as a build-up to the country’s hosting next year of the inaugural FIFA Women’s Futsal World Cup.
For the first time, there was a tinge of frustration in the voice of PH squad Dutch mentor Vic Hermans, who rued that “we could have won this game and it’s a shame that we did not. We had our chances of winning.”
He noted the lapse in his charges’ defense in the waning moments that led to the winning goal from a set play.
“We talked about this the previous night. But this is something that we must learn. Still, I’m disappointed with the outcome,” Hermans said.
Despite the result, he remained proud “of the progress of this squad. But I said physical fitness will count a lot if we need to keep up with our rivals. They can expect to run hard next year in our training sessions.”