THE Philippines goes for a spot in the final of the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup as it battles South Korea on Thursday.
The match is set at 1:30 p.m. at at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, India (4 p.m. Manila time).
The semifinal clash comes after the Filipina footballers’ historic victory last Sunday when they beat Chinese Taipei on penalties, 4-3, after a 1-1 deadlock, sealing a place in the Fifa Women’s World Cup for the first time in history.
The 2023 Women's World Cup will be co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
The Asian Cup campaign continues for the Pinay footballers, who will once again go for history with a place in the final against the winner of the match between China and Japan.
The Filipinas look to sustain the fine performance in the Asian Cup.
With the appearance in the World Cup now assured, the team also called as Malditas by fans said the pressure is off heading to the Korea match.
“Personally for me, I think now, that weight is off our shoulders having achieved our goal,” said Philippines goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel, one of the heroes in the win against Chinese Taipei. “Our goal really is not to win this tournament but to get to that qualifying match and to qualify for the World Cup. That was the goal and we’ve reached that goal.”
“We can all just take a breath and say, you know what, we are just happy and lucky and grateful to be here and just have fun. This is what we love to do and this is our passion,” said McDaniel.
Korea is the overwhelming favorites in the match after defeating Australia, 1-0, in the quarterfinals.
Striker Sarina Bolden said the match is also an opportunity for the team to grow as a unit.
“I know there is a lot of pressure leading up to this point. But now, we achieved our goal. Maybe raising that bar and say let’s win the whole thing with a little more relaxed. We did made the qualifiers. This is just another opportunity to grow as a team and play against a top 15 team and see where we are,” said Bolden.
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