WITH the Filipinas’ success apparently rubbing off on their youthful counterparts, the Young Filipinas stunned Vietnam 1-0 last Sunday night in Hanoi, Vietnam to book a place in the Asian Football Confederation Under-17 Women’s Asian Cup next year in Indonesia.
Before a shocked hometown crowd at the National Youth Football Center, Isabella Preston scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the 56th minute and the squad held the hosts scoreless the rest of the way in securing the milestone win.
“A moment of brilliance from Isabella Preston in the 56th minute ultimately settled the tie,” was how the story posted on the AFC website described her goal.
“Spotting (goalkeeper) Le Thi Thu slightly out of position as she lined up a free-kick from 25 meters out, the midfielder floated the ball over the Vietnam keeper and into the net to create history for the Philippines,” it added.
It was the second win against one loss in the four-team Group B of the second round of the qualifiers for the charges of Australian coach Sinisa Cohadzic. They absorbed a 2-6 loss to Australia last Sept. 20 but bounced back with a 3-1 triumph over Bangladesh wo days later.
The Aussies stomped on the Bangladeshi booters 4-0 in the other match to top the group with a 3-0 record and will advance together with the Young Filipinas to the 9th AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup from April 7 to 20 next year in Indonesia.
“I kinda knew that I can score from a long-distance range and I trusted myself to do it, and when it went in I was in complete awe,” said Preston of the winning goal. “It was an amazing effort from the girls and we made history and we’re going through to the Asian Cup.”
Cohadzic was ecstatic over the outcome of the tournament, saying in the post-match briefing that “tactically, we set ourselves up and we knew that if we can hold in the first 30 to 45 minutes, we knew that (in the) second half we’ll get on top of them.
“And clearly in the second half we had chances to score and then we were holding on. The defensive performance by these girls is really amazing. Such a big result on such a big stage, Filipinos should all be proud of these girls. And let’s go to the next step,” he added.
“We would like to congratulate our Young Filipinas for this accomplishment. The results show the fruits of our grassroots sports development programs in girls youth football,” said Philippine Football Federation general secretary Atty. Ed Gastanes, who monitored the match from Hangzhou, China.
The Young Filipinas had earlier topped the three-team Group G in the first round of the qualifiers last April, beating Guam 3-1 and Lebanon 2-0, respectively, at the GFA National Training Center in Dededo, Japan.
Striker Nina Mathelus, who scored twice against Australia and added another goal against Bangladesh last Friday, was a constant threat, while Sophia Saludares also tested the Vietnamese goalkeeper numerous times.
“We left it all out on the field today,” said team captain Ariana Markey. “We put everything on the line. We’re so excited to go to the Asian Cup.”
“We are proud of what the girls have achieved especially since it comes just a few months after the Filipinas also made history with a first-ever win in the FIFA Women’s World Cup,” said Philippine Football Federation president Mariano Araneta.
