Sarina Bolden’s hattrick powered the Philippine Women’s National Football Team into the semifinals of the 2022 AFF Women’s Championship courtesy of a 4-1 win over Indonesia, Sunday night, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.
Bolden put the ball at the back of the net in the 58th, 65th, and 67th minutes to fully turn the game around for the Filipinas after they started the contest in a dismal way.
Indonesia’s Carla Bio Pattinasarany broke the deadlock in the 37th minute when she capitalized on an error by Philippines goalkeeper Inna Palacios.
It was the first goal the Filipinas conceded in the tournament but they bounced back strongly in the second half. Captain Tahnai Annis scored past Indonesian goalie Prihatini to level the ballgame for coach Alen Stajcic’s wards in the 48th minute.
Annis’ leveler opened the floodgates for the Filipinas and it was Bolden who took full advantage. This was Bolden’s first hattrick for the Philippines since the 2019 Southeast Asian Games where she scored thrice in a 5-0 win over Malaysia. She now has five goals in the tournament.
“For us not to play our best game and then come out in the second half and show that resilience was a really good quality,” said Stajcic. “(It is) probably one of the most important qualities you can have in a team: to be able to bounce back, remain composed, calm, stick to your principles, and be able to plug your way through a game where you haven’t played so well and able to find form.”
“It’s amazing resilience from the group. In that respect, I’m really happy.”
The result means that the Filipinas have 12 points in Group A behind four straight wins. On the other hand, Indonesia still has one point behind three losses, and a draw. The Indonesians are already eliminated from the tournament.
Both teams will finish their Group A assignments on Tuesday at 7:00 PM. The Philippines takes on Thailand at Rizal Memorial while Indonesia goes up against Singapore at the Binan Football Stadium in Manila.
Philippines XI: Palacios (GK), Cesar, Long, Annis ©, Bolden, Miclat, Castaneda, Hawkinson, Maniti, Flanigan, Harrison.
Indonesia XI: Prihatini (GK), Rumbewas, Nurrohmah, Nurmalita, Wunugga, Kartini ©, Pattinasarany, Riski, Septiawati, Sunaryo, Nadila.
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Catch the entire 2022 AFF Women’s Championship live on SMART Sports and Puso Pilipinas from July 4-18.
