Underdog Filipinas eye upset of North Korea in Bali

Filipinas U-17. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Coach Sinisa Cohadzic sees a tough mountain to climb for the Philippines in its quest to get a second win on Thursday in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-17 Women’s Asian Cup against tough North Korea in Bali, Indonesia.

“They are a strong team, as they have always been, so it’s going to be a challenge for us,” Cohadzic told the AFC website as the Filipinas U-17 squad attempts to get a shock result at 4 p.m. Manila time at Bali United Training Center.

Cohadzic’s side opened the country’s maiden continental tournament in a big way on Monday, defeating host Indonesia, 6-1, with Alexa Pino and Natalie Collins leading the charge.

Keys to breakaway

Pino and Collins each scored a brace as the Philippines took command after Indonesia equalized in the 12th minute.

But odds are stacked against the Philippines after North Korea dominated South Korea, 7-0, in the other Group A match.

Getting a result will be huge for the young Filipinas’ quest to sneak out of the group as one of the two best teams and gain two chances to reach the U-17 World Cup as one of three best finishers of the competition.

“Every point is going to be important. If we can do something to affect the game, then it’s going to be good for us,” said Cohadzic.

Pino’s performance showed why she got a call-up to play for the senior team under Mark Torcaso.

Collins, meanwhile, said that the Asian Cup is “such an amazing experience to fight for myself and the team.”