Breakthrough win boosts Pinoy booters morale

For the Filipinos, advancing to the semifinals of the men’s U22 football tournament is more than just a chance to win a medal in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.

It’s also a testament of how far the program had gone as they formally ended 34 years of heartbreaks in the prestigious biennial meet.

National team head coach Garrath McPherson said pulling off a 1-0 win over defending champion Indonesia last Monday at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiang Mai was a huge morale-booster that jacked up their maturity and intensity as they shoot for their first ever gold medal in the regional meet.

The Nationals finished Group C on top after beating Myanmar, 2-0, last Friday and Indonesia to secure a spot in the semifinals for the first time since they hosted the SEA Games in 1991 at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila.

“They’re (Indonesia) a very good team and they pushed us to our limits. I’m very happy for the character shown by our team and I feel that the attitude and mentality amongst the group is something that sets them apart,” McPherson, an Australian, said.

“Without that attitude and without that mentality, the result today may have been different but Indonesia, you can see their quality out there. They made it very tough for us.”

McPherson said they will make the most of their free time to rest and prepare as they gun for the country’s first SEA Games final appearance against either host Thailand in Group A or the survivor in Group B match between Vietnam and Malaysia.

“I guess our focus now is on enjoying some rest. We played two games very close together. Indonesia had not played,” McPherson said.

“We had the draw where we had two games in the space of four days, so we now get to have some rest and we get to have a day off. And we get to recharge mentally and physically, which will be nice.”

Should the Philippines face the Thais in the knockout stages at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, it will be a rematch of their ASEAN Championship semifinal match last year, where the Filipinos absorbed a 3-4 setback.