Photograph courtesy of Philippine National Women's Football Team
GOAL

Torcaso rejoices over Asian Cup domination

Ivan Suing

The Philippine national women’s football team remains in business after winning all three games in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers in Phnom Penh.

Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso said he is proud that the girls did not lose their focus as they topped Group G with three wins and bag a slot for next year’s Asian Cup in Australia.

He also assured fans that Sofia Wunch and Chandler McDaniel, who scored the lone goal in their 1-0 win over Hong Kong last Saturday, were alright.

“It’s brilliant because we came here with an objective to qualify and not lose. We did what we needed to do and got the nine points,” Torcaso said.

“They’re fine. Sofia was exhausted because she was playing hard for her country. Chandler’s fine, she was more of a tactical substitution.”

The Philippines joins Bangladesh, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Chinese Taipei, India and Vietnam as they qualify for the Asian Cup.

The Filipinas started strong in their campaign, delivering a 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia last 29 June before trashing host Cambodia, 6-0, on 2 July.

Meryll Serrano emerged as the Philippines top scorer in the qualifiers with three goals in two games while McDaniel and Alexa Pino had two goals apiece.