MANILA, Philippines – The World Cup wasn’t meant for the Philippines this year.

The Philippine Women’s National Football team failed to clinch the 5th spot that could’ve catapulted it to the 2019 FIFA World Cup as it lost to South Korea, 0-5, on Monday, April 16 (Tuesday, Manila Time) at the Amman International Stadium. 

After winning its opening match against Jordan in the group stage of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, the Philippines lost its succeeding matches where a win could have allowed the country to advance to the World Cup. 

This was the most number of goals the Philippines had conceded throughout the tournament. 

South Korea threatened the Philippines’ defense throughout the match as the Koreans held possession for most of the game. 

The Koreans’ offense finally came through in the 34th minute when Jang Seu-gi’s out-of-the-box shot sailed into the back of the net to open the scoreline. 

The Philippines attempted to hold off South Korea after the first goal until the Koreans successfully split the defense that saw Lee Mi-na go one-on-one with Kearra Bastes-Jones, who eventually conceded the goal during the added time (45+3′). 

The nationals were only able to take two shots in the entire first half – one from Sarina Bolden in the 32nd minute, which sailed into the hands of South Korea keeper Yoon Young-guel, and the other from Maria Park’s free kick that sailed over the crossbar. 

South Korea continued to crush the Philippines as Jeon Ga-eul’s free kick found Lim Seon-joo, who slotted the ball past Bastes-Jones in the 56th minute to triple the lead. 

Ten minutes later, Ga-eul sent a cross following a corner kick to captain Cho So-hyun, who headed it in from the center of the box to make it a 4-0 lead over Philippines.

The Philippines’ woes continued as Alexa Diaz conceded a penalty after a hard foul on Choe Yu-ri in the penalty area. In the 84th minute, captain Cho converted her second goal of the game from the spot. – Rappler.com