SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine women’s football team produced a fantastic come-from-behind 4-1 win against Chinese Taipei to begin its second-round campaign in the 2024 AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Thursday, October 26, at the HBF Park in Australia.
Sarina Bolden slotted in two goals as Katrina Guillou and Chandler McDaniel also came through to put the Filipinas comfortably ahead after Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Yi-yun opened the scoring in the tournament serving as an Asian qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Hsu rifled in a powerful right-footed shot inside the penalty box at the 47th minute to beat Filipinas goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel.
At the 53’ mark, Meryll Serrano was fouled inside the box and the referee quickly whistled for a penalty kick for the Philippines.
Bolden stepped up to take the spot kick and drilled the ball to the upper right corner of the goal to equalize, 1-1.
The Filipinas finally grabbed the lead at the 60th minute as Guillou slotted in the ball past Chinese Taipei goalie Cheng Ssu-Yu,.
Bolden recorded a brace at the 83’ mark as she fired the ball, while McDaniel came off the bench to seal the Filipinas’ triumph over the world No. 38 Taiwanese.
Despite playing against a higher-ranked foe, the 44th-ranked Filipinas dominated possession in the early minutes and dictated the tempo of the match.
The Filipinas even had two chances to score early in the match, but Bolden’s close-range shot at the 12th minute was saved, while Hali Long’s volley off a corner kick at the 15th minute went over the bar.
Guillou also found the back of the net at the 33’ mark, but her easy tap in off an unselfish pass from Bolden was deemed offside by the referee.
Three minutes later, Chinese Taipei’s Ting Chi launched a powerful left-footed shot inside the penalty box, but it flew too high as both teams entered the halftime break still scoreless.
Six minutes into the second half, Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso responded to the conceded goal by substituting Jaclyn Sawicki and Alicia Barker for Reina Bonta and Dominique Randle.
The 30-year-old Sawicki immediately made an impact as she patrolled the midfield well and helped the Philippines snatch the lead away at the hour mark.
In the final 20 minutes of the match, Chinese Taipei made a triple change as Lai Li-chin, Chan Pi-han, and Lee Hsiu-chin came in for team captain Lin Chiung-ying, Lan Yu-chieh, and Chi.
However, the late substitutions of the Taiwanese weren’t able to help the starters turn the match around.
The Filipinas, who swept the first round of the qualifiers, will aim for back-to-back upsets against favored world No. 11 Australia on Sunday, October 29, 3:10 pm, at the Optus Stadium in Australia. – Rappler.com
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