Filipinas seek to stun Japanese

The Philippine national women’s football team faces a daunting challenge when it takes on host Japan in the quarterfinals of the 20th Asian Games on Friday at Shizuoka Stadium in Fukuroi, Japan.

Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. (Manila time) with the Filipinas hoping to extend their Asiad campaign and pull off an earthshaking upset of the Japanese, who routed them in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, 8-1.

The Philippines advanced to the knockout stage as one of the two best third-place teams after finishing Group G with a 1-1-1 win-draw-loss record.

The Filipinas are using the Asiad as part of their preparations for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but head coach Mark Torcaso said he is pleased that his squad has secured at least one more competitive match before facing Peru in a friendly in October.

“The opportunity to go straight from here to Peru is an amazing chance for all our players to travel, experience a different opponent, but the build-up of a whole program through the Asian Games and the FIFA (International Football Federation) window of six to eight games is exactly what we wanted,” Torcaso said.

“I’m really happy that we managed to get the extra game outside of the group stage at the moment and hopefully push for another game if we make it to the semifinals, but right now we’re very glad with where we’re at, and the girls should be very proud of themselves.”