Sarina Bolden (center) celebrates her second goal against Chinese Taipei, which gave Team PH a 3-1 lead. The win gives the Filipinas the confidence heading into their clash with Australia. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Being pragmatic is the last thing coach Mark Torcaso would want even if the Filipinas go into their titanic match in the second round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament as huge underdogs against host Australia.
“I think for us, we just wanna be brave and we wanna have to take these challenges playing against a top side and just give the girls an opportunity to go out there and enjoy the moment,” Torcaso said in a virtual press conference held on Friday.
“And then whatever comes in that game, comes in that game,” added the Australian-born mentor of the Filipinas, who’ll look to build on their impressive 4-1 win over Chinese Taipei on Thursday in the opener in Perth.
Expectations are that the Filipinas may have to play defensively in order to give themselves a puncher’s chance to defeat the Matildas, who are coming off a semifinal appearance as cohost of the Fifa Women’s World Cup.
Australia beat Iran, 2-0, in the other Group A match at Perth Rectangular Stadium, but it took Australia until the 78th minute to double the lead courtesy of star striker Sam Kerr, whose playing time is being managed due to an injury that kept her shelved for most of the World Cup.
“It was pretty surprising how the opposition (Iran) defended against Australia,” said Torcaso. “Obviously, it’s expected, but they still found a way to score. They managed to score two goals and that’s all that really matters in the end for them.”
The Filipinas absorbed lopsided defeats against two fellow World Cup participants since Torcaso took charge, namely South Korea (5-1) and Japan (8-1) during the Hangzhou Asian Games.
They also lost handily to the Matildas, 4-0, in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India, and another convincing win for the Aussies seems expected.
Torcaso, though, believes that they can flip the script at Optus Stadium, a large venue booked by the host nation, as a way to build on the Matildas’ popularity post-World Cup.
“We truly believe that we can get something out of this game and get a result,” he said. “We’re definitely looking forward to it. It’s gonna be in front of a lot of people, which our girls have had some experience with.” INQ