The Philippine women’s football team cruised to an impressive 4-0 victory over Pakistan to kickstart its campaign in the first round of the 2024 AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Wednesday, April 5, at the Hisor Central Stadium in Tajikistan.
Center-back Hali Long celebrated her 70th cap for the national team by providing the opening goal of the match at the 22nd minute.
After a scramble inside the box from a free-kick, Sarina Bolden finally retrieved the ball and delivered a left-footed cross for Long to accurately head down an empty net.
Bolden then had her own header at the 25-minute mark as she connected with Eva Madarang’s cross from the left wing to give the Philippines a 2-0 lead.
In the 29th minute, Madarang received a pass from Quinley Quezada and immediately turned her body towards the goal as she fired in a right-footed shot near the penalty arc to triple the Filipinas’ advantage.
The final goal of the match came at the 85th minute as second half substitute Chandler McDaniel slotted in a right-footed shot inside the box to complete the 4-0 rout.
The Philippines, ranked 49th in the world, temporarily goes on top of Group E with 3 points and a +4 goal difference, while 169th-ranked Pakistan sinks to the bottom with 0 points and a -4 goal difference.
79th-ranked Hong Kong and world No. 144 Tajikistan will close out matchday 1 for Group E later in the day.
For the ongoing qualifying tourney, Philippines head coach Alen Stajcic chose to bring in the majority of the players that competed in the recently concluded 2023 Pinatar Cup, but he had a late addition to the team as he included teenager Isabella Pasion.
Pasion was then named a starter versus Pakistan and she almost scored her first senior goal at the 45th minute after launching a shot from almost 30-yards out, but unfortunately for her, the ball only hit the crossbar.
Reina Bonta and Malea Cesar came in as the Philippines’ halftime substitutes, but it was McDaniel, who was subbed in at the 60th minute for Bolden, that had the most impact off the bench.
McDaniel showed no signs of rust after spending the previous year recovering from an ACL tear as she immediately had an attempt 7 minutes after her introduction from the match.
Annis stole the ball and immediately played it to Madarang who attracted multiple defenders and then found McDaniel for a well-placed through ball, but the returning 25-year-old forward just couldn’t curl in her right-footed shot inside the goal.
Eight minutes before the Philippines recorded a fourth goal, Stajcic turned to midfielders Anicka Castañeda and Jacklyn Sawicki to see off the match and help the team preserve a valuable clean sheet heading into their final two matches of the Asian qualifiers.
The Filipinas will aim for back-to-back wins as they take on group hosts Tajikistan on April 8, 10 pm (Manila time), at the same venue.