Football: No panic for Filipinas after conceding first goal | ABS-CBN

ADVERTISEMENT

dpo-dps-seal
Welcome, Kapamilya! We use cookies to improve your browsing experience. Continuing to use this site means you agree to our use of cookies. Tell me more!

Football: No panic for Filipinas after conceding first goal

Football: No panic for Filipinas after conceding first goal

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

 | 

Updated Jul 11, 2022 12:54 PM PHT

Clipboard

The Philippine women
The Philippine women's national football team in action against Indonesia in the 2022 AFF Women's Championship. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA, Philippines -- For the Philippine women's national football team, there was no reason to panic even after they gave up a shock goal to Indonesia in the 2022 AFF Women's Championship on Sunday night.

The Filipinas have kept clean sheets in their first four games in Group A, but an unfortunate error by veteran goal-keeper Inna Palacios allowed Carla Bio Pattinasarany to give Indonesia a 1-0 advantage in the 38th minute.

The goal temporarily quieted the raucous crowd at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium that had been waiting for a breakthrough from the Filipinas. Just moments later, they were back in full force, encouraging the home squad to press for an equalizer.

The goal they waited for came barely three minutes into the second half, when Sofia Harrison lofted a cross into the box that skipper Tahnai Annis coolly converted.

ADVERTISEMENT

From there, it was all Philippines: Sarina Bolden scored a hat-trick in 10 minutes to complete the comeback, and send the Filipinas to the tournament semifinals.

"We just had to stick to our principles," said Bolden afterward, having earned Player of the Match honors for the second time in the competition.

"When we were in that huddle, it was -- again -- stay composed. It's okay, we've been in this position before. We've been down, we can come back from it. Just stay calm, we don't need to be frantic," she said of their discussion ahead of the second half.

Going down 0-1 was not new for the Filipinas. They were also in the same position against Myanmar in the bronze medal match in the 31st Southeast Asian Games, and they responded with two goals in a three-minute span in the second half to turn the game around.

In a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina ahead of the AFF tilt, they fell behind by a goal early, but scored twice in the final five minutes for another dramatic comeback.

Those experiences helped in keeping the Filipinas' spirits high even in the face of adversity on Sunday night.

The Filipinas gave up their first goal of the AFF Women
The Filipinas gave up their first goal of the AFF Women's Championship to Indonesia's Carla Bio Pattinasarany. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

"We need to trust that we can keep the ball, we can possess, we can move it, we can make runs. It was really just a calm atmosphere in that huddle," Bolden said.

"When we start getting frantic, that's when you see that we aren't at our best. When we are calm and we are trusting each other, that's when we're at our best and we're able to put on a good performance," she added.

For head coach Alen Stajcic, it was another display of resilience from a team that has regularly shown this character in the past seven months. The Australian gaffer would not deny that Indonesia deserved to enter the break with the lead, noting that they were the hungrier team.

"I think you gotta compliment the opposition sometimes," Stajcic said wryly.

"But for us not to play our best game, and then come out in the second half and show that resilience was a really good quality," he also said. "Probably one of the most important qualities you can have in the team -- to be able to bounce back and remain composed and calm, stick to your principles and be able to fight your way through in a game where you haven't played so well, and be able to find form."

"So it's amazing resilience from the group. In that respect, I'm really happy."

Stajcic made some changes at the half, bringing in Katrina Guillou, Sara Eggesvik, and Jaclyn Sawicki. At the break, he also told the players to "stick to the principles," but the coach stressed that all the credit belongs to the Filipinas.

"There's no magic wand at halftime," he pointed out. "We just talked about sticking with our principles, and doing the things that have got us to the point where we're at."

"It's not easy to have the scoreboard against you when you're a heavy favorite to win, and there's a lot of pressure that comes with that," Stajcic added. "For us to remain calm and composed, as I said, and show that resilience is a really important sign for the growth of this team."

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

It looks like you’re using an ad blocker

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.