The Philippines is hoping to continue basking in that winning feeling when it faces South Korea in the semifinals. —AFC
No one would be faulted for thinking that the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Asian Cup would be the end of the road for the Philippines in the tournament in India.
Against South Korea, the Filipinos will, after all, face a country that has made the World Cup thrice already—including the last two editions—and is looking to build its momentum after qualifying for a fourth appearance.
But hey. “We just made history on top of history, we might as well take this all the way to the top,” said Sarina Bolden, the energetic forward who capped a gripping shootout last Thursday to edge Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals of the Asian showpiece.
Bolden nailed the winning sudden-death penalty kick that gave the Philippines a 4-3 edge in the shootout and a first-ever ticket to football’s grandest stage.
So, really, why not dream big?
“Let’s win this whole tournament. Let’s keep proving people wrong, let’s keep working hard, let’s keep achieving more than what people thought we could achieve,” added the 25-year-old Bolden in a Zoom interview on Monday.
The Filipinos know exactly who the ladies on the opposite side of the pitch at DY Patil Stadium will be. It’s part of the reason why they’re excited to play semifinal opponent South Korea.
Korea star
Philippines forward Sarina Bolden, left, and keeper Olivia McDaniel gesture during a Zoom interview.
Olivia McDaniel, the goalkeeper who crushed the Taiwanese with two huge saves and a shootout-squaring penalty, is giddy at the possibility that popular boy band BTS will tune in to the match “and maybe things will happen; I’m trying to get a meet-and-greet, maybe,” she said, laughing.
The 24-year-old standout also wants to get a shot at sharing the field with Korea star Ji So-yun, the 30-year-old Chelsea midfielder who slotted home the winning goal against powerhouse Australia in their quarterfinal showdown three minutes to time for a dramatic 1-0 victory.
“I think [playing against Ji] will be a fun game for everyone,” McDaniel said.
Mainly, though, the semifinal match is a chance to “benchmark” a Philippine squad that has pulled off milestone after milestone in this tournament, according to Bolden—a chance for a “temperature gauge” not just to get a feel of how good the squad really is, but also to find out what it still needs to improve on.
“It’s another opportunity for us to see where we are,” Bolden, who plays professionally in Japan, said.
Right now, it might seem that the Philippines is at a level where people would view the semifinal duel against Korea a mismatch.
But there are a couple of things where both countries are on equal footing. As rich as Korea’s football tradition is, the “Taegeuk Nangja”—the squad’s moniker—haven’t also made the finals of the Asian tournament yet. And both teams are likewise level in grit and passion.
“The fight and the grit, we as Filipinos have, the level that we have, it’s insane,” said McDaniel. “We do not stop.”
“We’re loud, we’re proud. We work hard. We’re gonna go all the way to the end and we’re not ever gonna give up,” Bolden said.
Besides, it may seem that the women’s team emerged out of nowhere to write history for the Philippines; but for a lot of the girls, being in the World Cup was a dream they had harbored since they were young—no matter how far-fetched that goal seemed then.
‘Set a fire’
Philippine women’s football team celebrate win over Chinese Taipei that sent the country to the World Cup for the first time. PFF PHOTO
McDaniel, for instance, had dreamed of playing in the World Cup since she was eight or nine, after watching a YouTube video of the 1991 final, where Brandi Chastain ripped her shirt off to celebrate the United States’ victory over China via penalty kicks.
“[That game and Chastain’s celebration] set a fire in me,” McDaniel said.
“And in the recent years I thought I had to come to terms with the fact that maybe this dream won’t become reality,” she added. “But ever since coming back with the team after so long, I was given that dream and that fire again and it feels really good.”
And McDaniel and her teammates want to keep that fire lit as long as possible. At the very least, the Filipino ladies won’t make already qualifying for the World Cup as an excuse to slack off.
“I have no doubt we’ll give them a good run for their money,” Bolden said.