WOMEN’S World Cup veterans Katrina Guillou and Isabella Flanigan keyed the Filipina5 to a rousing 4-1 win over Kuwait last Saturday in their opening Group C match in the AFC Women’s Asian Futsal qualifying meet at the Yusonobod Sports Complex in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Guillou scored a brace, including the opening marker in the second minute on a follow-up after a goalmouth scramble, then sealed the win with just outside a minute left for her first two international futsal goals for the country.
Flanigan also got into the act, breaking away for a solo drive just inside the PH half to lob her strike over Kuwaiti goalie Al Alsabri in the 22nd minute after the latter blocked her earlier attempt from the left flank.
Dionesa Tolentino added the other goal with a 12-yard blast just from the top of the arc in the 27th minute, as the Nationals gifted Spanish coach Rafa Merino his first win barely a month after he took over the helm of the side from Dutch mentor Vic Hermans.
Defender Shrouk Mohammad scored Kuwait’s lone goal in the 35th minute of the competition where the group topnotcher and runner-up will book tickets to the AFC Women’s Asian Futsal Cup from May 7 to 18 in China.
The Filipinas’ mettle will be severely tested today at 3 p.m. (6 p.m. in Manila) when they take on debuting and highly-fancied Uzbekistan, the highest-ranked squad in the group at No. 18 in the FIFA women’s futsal world ratings, 51 rungs higher than their rivals.
The qualifying meet serves as their second tune-up meet after competing in the AFF Women’s Futsal Championship in Manila last December as part of the build-up for the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Futsal Cup the country will host in late November this year.
Largely an unknown quantity outside Southeast Asia, the Philippines got off to a solid start as it pressed early.
Guillou was left open on the left wing during a goalmouth scramble to slot in the first goal from 10 feet just barely two minutes into the game.
That goal galvanized the Kuwaitis, who pressed the attack but were kept at bay by the solid defense of PH goalkeeper Samantha Hughes who preserved a 1-0 PH lead at the break.
Then Flanigan exploited an errant pass within the PH halfcourt to streak on a drive that had the Kuwaiti goalkeeper diving just in time to foil her first attack but failed to recover as the wily Pinay striker lobbed the ball over her on the follow-up, bouncing once and into the net.
Tolentino struck for the third goal in the 36th as the Filipina5 erected an imposing 3-0 lead.
Thanks to the stingy Philippine defense, Kuwait coach Sharzhad Mozafar was forced to play all his five players, including the goalkeeper, upfront in an attempt to cut the gap late in the second period.
It was a gambit that backfired when Guillou scored into an open net after breaking up the Kuwait clearance, the ball hitting her chest, then kicking from five years for the insurance goal.
