China showed why they are one of the best teams in the world
The gulf of class between Philippine Women’s National Football Team and their Chinese counterpart was on display, as the latter won 0-3 in both teams’ second Group A assignment of the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan.
The Chinese, who finished in 3rd place in the 2014 edition of the Asian Cup and reached the quarter-finals of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, got the lead after 17 minutes of play when forward Li Ying shot past Filipina goalkeeper Kearra Bastes-Jones.
China then doubled its cushion before the break when Ma Jun’s unleashed a stunning strike to all but secure the victory for her team in the 31st minute. Li Ying then secured her brace with another shot inside the Philippines’ box in the 57th minute.
All in all, it was simply a bad day at the office for the Philippines. The Filipinas failed to muster a single shot on target and surrendered roughly 71 percent possession in 90 minutes of action. The Chinese also registered 575 passes compared to the Philippines’ 249.
Not even China captain Wu Haiyan’s red card eight minutes from time allowed the Philippines to pull one back. Haiyan was sent off for two bad fouls which yielded a yellow card each. The only silver lining for the Filipinas for this game is that they are still above Thailand in terms of goal difference as of this writing,
All is not lost for the Filipinas in their quest to make it to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Paris, France. The Philippines will look to bounce back against Thailand on April 13, 1:00 AM at the King Abdullah II Stadium.