‘Good starting point’ as Filipinas rout Fiji in friendly
Philippine women’s football team during its friendly vs Fiji. PFF PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine women’s football team dominated Fiji, 7-2, in an international friendly on Thursday as part of its Sydney training camp.
Quinley Quezada, Anicka Castaneda and Tahnai Annis scored braces, while Dominique Randle also sank a goal to kick off the Filipinas’ build-up for the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam and 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup on a high note.
Quezada, who celebrated her 25th birthday, opened the scoring in the 13th minute before Castaneda doubled the lead three minutes later.
Randle nailed her first international goal in the 35th minute as Annis scored back-to-back at the 39th and 43rd mark before Castaneda completed her brace in the 44th minute for a 6-0 lead entering the break.
Quezada capped the lopsided victory with a goal in the 78th, answering Fiji’s back-to-back goals from Cama Nasau and Adi Volitikoro.
“The result was one thing but we’re looking at our performance. There were some good patches, some good moments but we were a bit rusty in some parts just because players were out for two months, not training in a team environment. Overall, it’s a good starting point for us,” said Filipinas coach Alen Stajcic.
“We’ll be working hard to ensure we get back to the levels where we were during the Asian Cup. We got another match on Monday and three more matches and another two weeks in camp before we fly to Vietnam. It’s really good preparation for the SEA Games.”
The Philippine women’s football team will train in Sydney until May before competing in the SEA Games.
