Phl booters gun for historic finals stint

BANGKOK, Thailand — A fired up national U22 team takes on Vietnam in the semifinals of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games Monday, determined to carve history with the country's first-ever finals appearance and a guaranteed medal in men's football.

The Filipino booters, who are in the semis for the first time in 34 years and only the second time in the biennial meet overall, carry out their mission at 4:30 p.m. (Manila time) at the cavernous Rajamangala Stadium.

The Garrath McPherson-coached side is riding high from their sweep of Myanmar (2-0) and 2023 champion Indonesia (1-0) in Group C action in Chiang Mai en route to ending a long string of early exits that came after a breakthrough Final Four appearance at the 1991 edition at home.

The fabled 1991 batch missed out on the podium during their run, losing to Singapore in the bronze medal match, 0-2. And now the U22s have a chance to set a new best by taking down the Golden Stars and guarantee themselves of at least a silver medal.

“The players obviously have set their own goals as a group. My role is just to prepare them for performance at every match day and what will be will be,” McPherson said.

“I don’t generally look too far down the track, setting goals and targets, I just worry about the next game. But the players, before the start of the tournament, were setting themselves goals of at least semifinals and getting a medal in this tournament.”

If they hurdle Vietnam, they fight for gold against either host Thailand or Malaysia, which engage in a knockout match for the other finals berth at 8 p.m. Monday (9 p.m. Manila time). Otherwise, they will play for the bronze on 18 December.

McPherson believes the squad led by Sandro Reyes, Alex Monis and Santi Rublico has what it takes to overcome strong rivals.

“The sides that win are not always the ones with the strongest players — they’re the ones with the better attitude and mentality,” he said.