By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Philippine women’s national football team’s bid for a gold medal finish in the ongoing 2023 Southeast Asian Games is still alive after a huge 1-0 win over Malaysia last May 6, 2023, held at the Army Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Sarina Bolden once again became the heroine for the Filipinas after sending the crucial game-winning goal in the 90+6th minute of the nip-and-tuck affair.
The superstar striker delivered the final blow for the PHL delegation after converting a perfect header to help the Filipinas enter the winning column for the first time.
Bolden received the well-calculated cross pass by Sara Eggesvik that came after a foul drawn by Sofia Harison from the left flank of the pitch.
After the Bolden header, the Malaysians failed to score in their final offensive stretch that saw their record fall to 0-2 in the women’s group A.
Meanwhile, the Filipinas bounced back from a disappointing opening campaign against Myanmar when they lost, 0-1.
It was a highly physical back-and-forth between the Filipinas and the opposing squad as the Malaysians used their tight defensive schemes to neutralize PHL’s high-octane style of play.
Despite tons of attempts from the Filipinas, Malaysia’s superstar goalkeeper Nur Ezza Ashikin Abdul Razak played a major role in the first 90 minutes when she saved all of PHL’s tries from the penalty box.
However, the Filipinas led by head coach Alen Stajcic adjusted well in the second half and decided to deploy more crisp passing rather than attacking the ball coast-to-coast.
The Filipinas will have the chance to book an early ticket to the tournament semifinals if they win their next game against Vietnam on May 9, 2023.
