The Philippine Women’s National Football Team continued their faultless campaign in the 2022 AFF Women’s Championship with a resounding 4-0 win over Malaysia, Friday evening, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.
Sara Eggesvik, who was brought on for the injured Kaya Hawkinson 10 minutes into the contest, unleashed a spectacular long-range effort that was adjudged to have narrowly crossed the line despite the best efforts of Malaysian goalkeeper Nurul Azurin Mazlan in the 32nd minute.
Katrina Guillou then scored the Filipinas’ second goal in the 43rd minute from close range to set them on their way to victory.
Come the second half, Quinley Quezada scored a header in the 48th minute while substitute midfielder Anicka Castaneda added her name to the scoresheet in the 73rd minute.
Former UAAP and Ateneo de Manila University standout Cam Rodriguez reached the milestone of 40 appearances for the Philippines when she was brought on in place of Eva Madarang at the 77th minute.
The result means that the Filipinas extend their perfect start to the tournament with 9 points behind three straight wins. On the other hand, Malaysia still has 2 points on the back of two draws and a loss.
“We scored some goals and we won the game but I think we lacked a little bit of rhythm,” said coach Alen Stajcic. “We gotta stay humble and keep our feet on the ground and you gotta appreciate the difficulty of each match.”
“Tonight wasn’t an easy match. Tonight was a very long drawn-out match. Frustrating a time. There’s a lot to work on and a lot to improve.”
Both teams will return on Sunday. The Philippines takes on Indonesia at 7:00 PM in Rizal Memorial while Malaysia goes up against Thailand at 7:00 PM in the Binan Football Stadium.
Malaysia XI: Mazlan (GK), Soberi, Jumilis, Jerus, Mailu, Singh ©, Azmi, Abidin, Nordin, Azizan, Aidi.
Philippines XI: Fontanilla (GK), Sawicki, Annis ©, Hawkinson, Frilles, Harrison, Madarang, Quezada, Guillou, Alcantara, Cowart.
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Catch the entire 2022 AFF Women’s Championship live on SMART Sports and Puso Pilipinas from July 4-18.
