The Philippine women’s football team’s defense of the Asean Women’s Championship came to an abrupt end after being denied a semifinals berth with a 1-1 draw against Myanmar on Wednesday at Lach Tray Stadium in Haiphong, Vietnam.
Nina Mathelus equalized in the 71st minute for her first international goal, but the Filipinas couldn’t secure a victory that would’ve kept their chances of repeating the title run they had three years ago in Manila.
Instead, coach Mark Torcaso’s side bowed out after placing third in Group B with four points on one win, one draw and one defeat.
Myanmar and the Australia U-23 team advanced to the semis along with Thailand and host Vietnam after emerging as the top two teams in the group.
The draw allowed Myanmar to top the group with seven points while Australia claimed second place on six points after thrashing Timor-Leste, 9-0, in Phu Tho.
The Filipinas came to the match needing at least a two-goal win to advance, but their goal of doing so got off on a rough note when Win Theingi Tun scored a penalty in the 33rd after being fouled inside the box by a rushing Olivia McDaniel.
Mathelus pulled one back for the Philippines with less than 20 minutes before stoppage time, but adding more to the scoreline proved to be futile.
The Filipinas missed out on a semis berth for the first time since 2018 after starting the tournament brightly by blasting Timor-Leste, 7-0. But the Filipinas were pushed to the brink the following match with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Australia U-23s.
Torcaso came to the competition with seven new players, but were missing mainstays like the injured Sarina Bolden plus Angie Beard, Jaclyn Sawicki and Sara Eggesvik due to club commitments.
The tournament, also known commercially as the Asean MSIG Serenity Cup, did not fall under the Fifa international windo,w which would force clubs to release their players for national team duty.
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