Filipinas in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. –CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The emphatic comeback win fashioned out on Thursday could be a great boost for the Filipinas in their quest to progress into the final qualification phase for next year’s Paris Olympics.
Sarina Bolden starred in the 4-1 defeat of old foe Chinese Taipei in Perth, Australia, and the win not only helped coach Mark Torcaso’s side start the second round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament on a high note, but also put them in a good position to go further.
Bolden, who scored two goals to negate an early deficit in the second half, and the Filipinas must come out on top of Group A or emerge as the best team among the three second placers to enter the last phase of the qualifiers, where two Olympic slots will be contested in a pair of two-legged playoffs.
But the impressive victory over Chinese Taipei, the same team they beat to claim a spot in this year’s Fifa (International Federation of Association Football) Women’s World Cup, is something that the Filipinas must build on with a tough task awaiting them on Sunday.
Host Australia is next on the schedule, and the Philippines will be huge underdogs against the team that reached the semifinals of the World Cup a few months ago.
Australia dominated the Philippines, 4-0, during their last meeting in January at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India.
Getting an unlikely favorable result or avoiding a lopsided defeat are things that would favor Torcaso and the Filipinas if they seek to keep the Olympic fate in their hands.
The other team in Group A is Iran, the Philippines’ last second round opponent on Tuesday.
Team Philippines fell behind two minutes into the restart on a Hsu Yi Yun opener, but the deficit didn’t last long after Bolden capitalized on a penalty awarded to the Philippines to tie things up in the 54th.
Katrina Guillou, who had a negated goal due to an offside in the first half, was able to score the go-ahead in the 61st.