A moment of truth awaits the Philippine women’s football team when it battles Uzbekistan on Thursday in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup in Australia.
The winner will secure one of the last two berths in the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup at stake in the play-in matches.
“Our girls did a fantastic job to get us to this point, to be in contention, and (get) qualified,” national coach Mark Torcaso said on Wednesday’s pre-match press conference at the Cbus Super Stadium in Robina, a suburb of Gold Coast, Queensland.
The Filipinas will face the Uzbekistan White Wolves at 11 a.m. (Manila time) at the Cbus Super Stadium.
The Philippines was relegated to the play-ins after losing to Japan, 0-7, in the quarterfinals, while Uzbekistan bowed to South Korea, 0-6, last March 14 in Sydney.
“We already did our job here by reaching the quarter-finals but we still have one more goal to achieve. We dream of reaching the World Cup and we hope to do our job there,” White Wolves coach Kotryna Kulbyte said in a statement after the game.
The White Wolves beat the Filipinas thrice in four meetings since 1997. Their friendly game at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in October last year ended in a 2-all draw.
Torcaso is expected to field a full roster against the White Wolves, including a fully-rested veteran goalie Olivia McDaniel, who was absent in their clash with Japan, while her sister Chandler will lead the offense.
Uzbekistan’s key players Lyudmilla Karachik, Maftuna Shoyimova and Nilufar Kudratova, who sat out the game against South Korea, saw action in the friendly match against the Philippines. (PNA)
