Two games into the 2022 AFF Women’s Championship and the Philippine Women’s National Football Team has enjoyed its homecoming with back-to-back victories to take control of first place in Group A.
After a memorable 1-0 win over the Under-23 Australian Matildas, the Filipinas followed it up with a 7-0 demolition job over the Singapore Lionesses.
One of the key players so far for coach Alen Stajcic has been midfielder Jessica Miclat, who started both matches and earned a player of the game award after a fine performance against Singapore.
“It’s a great team performance. I think we worked on a lot of the things we weren’t able to (do) in the first game. I worked on a lot of on-the-ball things, moving it around,” said the 23-year-old California native.
“Although it could have been a lot better, I think it’s definitely an improvement from our previous games and I think it’s something to build on for the next three games.”
With the games so close to each other, Stajcic decided to rotate his squad to keep players fresh and match fit for this tournament. The Australian mentor put in seven different starters against the Lionesses compared to when the Filipinas faced the Matildas U-23 side.
Despite the upheaval, the Filipinas cruised throughout the game against the Lionesses and put on a memorable show in front of the home fans.
“I think there were a few nerves for some of the subs (who) got their first minutes but other than that, I think they played really hard and tried to do all the right things, which is what we want. So, really good from the subs,” said Miclat.
It is not every day a football team wins 7-0. A performance like that deserves a lot of praise from the fans while the players and coaches have every reason to celebrate a job well done.
However, the Filipinas still have three more matches in the group stage and qualification to the semi-finals is just the bare minimum for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup-bound squad.
“So I think building off of this, do not be complacent although we won 7-0. We know we still have lots of matches up ahead,” said the University of California Irvine alumna.
“Just take this win, relish it but also put it at the back of our minds and move on to the next game and get ready for that one.”
Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand are the next three assignments for the Filipinas before they can think of entering the final four. This 7-0 win will be a highlight for years to come but the task at hand is not done yet for Miclat and the rest of this edition of the Filipinas.
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Catch the entire 2022 AFF Women’s Championship live on SMART Sports and Puso Pilipinas from July 4-18.</e
