Hardest part was saying goodbye

INQUIRER PHOTO/RICHARD REYES

They were on the verge of missing out on a return trip to the finals. And even when they did get there, they were left “crying and broken” after Thailand reduced them to silver medalists yet again.

And yet the girls of the Philippine U15 squad that played in the recent AFF age-group tournament will tell you about another one of the most gut-wrenching things they had to go through. 

“The last day,” said midfielder Martina Torres.

Torres and her teammates—midfielders KC Zalamea and Any Fuentes and striker Maria Lazo—along head coach Marielle Benitez and assistant coach Elyo Dillera were recent guests of Sports IQ, the Inquirer’s omni-platform live sports talk show, where they talked about their journey to the finale of the U15 tournament.

After coming back dramatically to beat Myanmar in the semifinals, leaning on a goal by Mirya Garcia with four minutes left in the match, the young Malditas ran into a Thailand squad that flaunted superior quality and a marked improvement from the squad the Philippines nearly upset in last year’s U14 finale.

The pain of a 6-2 defeat in the finale was real. The U15 squad truly believed in their hearts that they could finally complete the unfinished business they had with the Thais after last year’s heartbreaker.  In the end, Benitez said the girls were “crying and broken” after the match.

But the pain did not last long.

“10 minutes,” Lazo said, drawing laughter from the group. Fuentes did a mock-reenactment of the scene: “I was like huhuhu (crying).” And then the awarding ceremonies came and everyone “was happy,” recounted the bubbly midfielder.

“After a while, when we were able to recover from that final whistle and then you see the girls crying and broken, we told them there’s nothing to be ashamed of with your performance,” said Benitez. “You can walk into the pitch with your held head high.”

The sadness they felt when they had to go their separate ways, however, would last a little bit longer.

“We were together for five weeks or more,” said Zalamea. “So it wasn’t easy to say goodbye. Especially since some of the girls were from the province and some were from America.” 

“They’re like family na and I wanted to stick with them forever,” said Lazo. “In the last day we were crying. It was so sad.”

“It’s hard to say good bye to people who are the first ones you see when you wake up and the last faces you see before you go to sleep,” said Fuentes.

The girls had built camaraderie the same way really special teams do: Stay together in success and failure. Bond through activities that help fight off the ennui that sometimes settles on “away” teams between games and practices. Building memories together.

And there were lots of memories. Fuentes recalled “doing homework” and “applying face masks and cucumber patches during 10-hour layovers.” There were several activities: Team-building, singing on bus rides, queuing at buffet tables. And of course, the memories on the pitch were aplenty.

“I’ll always remember that Myanmar game, when Mirya scored the goal and we were finally in the final,” said Torres. “That felt good.”

Even the coaches carry moments they will always miss.

“The routine,” said Dillera. “Waking them up early in the morning and making sure they’re tucked in bed before 9 p.m.”

After all, for the coaches, it was suddenly like having children of their own—teenagers at that—to take care of.

“I think we skipped the whole cute part,” laughed Benitez. “It was a lot of fun being with them. There were days when they were extra makulit and the coaches had to put their foot down. But with this batch of coaches, we could be as playful as the kids and we could be serious.”

And the kids loved their coaches.

“They tag along sometimes and sumasama sa kalokohan,” said Zalamea. “They take care of us really well.”

“They guide us. They are our inspiration,” added Torres. 

And they’re ready to jump on any chance to get together as a team again. After all, the team has a goal. If they stay together long enough and train together hard enough, they just might be able to plant a foot in the U17 women’s World Cup.

And that may not be such a far-fetched dream.

“You know you did something good, something right, when the goodbyes are longer than the training sessions,” said Benitez.