PRIMED and ready, the Filipinas face familiar rival Myanmar today to kick off their Group campaign in the 32nd Cambodia Southeast Asian Games women’s football tournament in Phnom Penh.
The charges of coach Alen Stajcic will enjoy a slight psychological edge when they tackle the Burmese at 4 p.m. (5 p.m. Manila time) at the RCAF Old Stadium.
The World Cup-bound Filipinas nipped the Asian Lionesses 2-1 to secure the bronze medal the last time they met in the Vietnamese edition of the regional meet in 2022.
Surprisingly, however, Burma is ranked two rungs higher than the Philippines at No. 47 to the latter’s No. 49 in the FIFA women’s world ratings so it should be interesting if the form chart holds.
The Filipinas go into the tournament fresh from topping Group E of the Asian women’s Olympic qualifiers in Hisor, Tajikistan last month to advance to the next round.
They did it impressively without conceding a goal, whipping Pakistan, Tajikistan and Hong Kong by scores of 4-0, 8-0 and 4-0, respectively.
But trust Stajcic not to take anything for granted in the tough group where they are bracketed with two-time defending champion Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.
