A wonderful and resilient Filipinas team went down 1-0 to the Matildas in Perth to open the Asian Cup in front of a record Asian Cup crowd of 44,379 fans. While the team was defeated, goal difference will be very important as the Filipinas aim to move into the quarter finals of the tournament and keep their FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification dream alive.
The Matildas looked very comfortable at home in front of a large crowd in Perth, with goal-scoring superstar Sam Kerr heading the ball into the back of the net on the 14th minute mark to give the Matildas a deserved 1-0 lead over the Filipinas.
It seemed at this point that the Matildas would run away and aim to replicate their 2023 Olympic qualifying 8-0 win over the Filipinas at the same venue; however, the Filipinas’ back 4 tightened up defensively for the rest of the first half and repelled several attacking raids. The Filipina’s midfield also stood up and closely marked any of the attacking runs the Matildas threw at them. Two standouts in the Filipinas team were Sara Eggesvik and Angie Beard, who both played pivotal roles in disrupting and frustrating the Matildas’ midfield through pressing and tight marking – on many occasions, this ensured the final delivery into attacking areas was poor in quality and easily repelled by the Filipina’s centre backs. Olivia McDaniel was particularly strong in goals with several game-changing saves, her goalkeeping heroics ensuring the full-time score remained at 1-0.
To the Filipinas’ credit, they kept the Matildas scoreless in the second half through sheer grit and determination in defence. The obvious game plan was to sit low in defence and repel the waves of constant attacks from the Matildas. It did mean that the Filipinas only had 15% of the ball during the entire match, so it did not allow the team to form any sort of passing, attacking, and goal-scoring cohesion.
At the post-match press conference, Head Coach Mark Torcaso noted that he was “disappointed that we lost the game”; however, “it was about fighting in every single game, but it’s good for us to keep growing for the next two games”.
Expect the same type of play in the Filipinas’ next match against a very talented Korea Republic on Thursday, 5 March on the Gold Coast, as they look to play defensive counter-attacking football with the aim of not conceding and potentially earning their first points of the tournament.
Watch the full match here.
