The Malditas will try to go where no other Philippine national women’s football team has gone before.
They will play a semifinal match with South Korea at 4 p.m. Thursday, with the Philippines hoping to extend its amazing run in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, India after already earning one of five available slots to the 2023 FIFA World Cup.
The winner of the contest battles the victor of the other semifinal clash featuring China and Japan at 10 p.m.
Coach Alen Stajcic said the Malditas have already proven themselves in the tournament and shown an amazing level of performance as they now go into unfamiliar territory — a slot in the finals.
“We have a lot of belief in the team, and a nothing-to-lose attitude. We’ll give it everything we got and make it hard for them,” said Stajcic, who added that the Koreans are now showing their potential after they eased out Australia in the quarterfinals, 1-0.
So far, the Koreans have won their last two games against the Philippines with a combined score of 9-0.
This includes a 5-0 triumph in their last meeting, which was a fifth-place playoff at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Jordan back in 2018.
With the Malditas showing a much better form this time, Stajcic said the team is expected to flaunt something much different than how they were in previous showdowns with the Koreans.
“That’s truly, at this level, an amazing level of performance with the consistency that they (Malditas) showed. It shows that we can be a really difficult team to beat,” said Stajcic. “I think the next level of improvement and involvement for this group will be what we can do with the ball.”
The Koreans, who are coached by Colin Bell, also seek to go beyond the semis as well for the first time. This is, however, their fifth attempt to shoot for the finals.
Ji So-yun is the teamost prolific scorer that the Malditas have to watch out for, having scored four goals in the meet.
On the other hand, Malditas’ bet Tahnai Annus has the most goals for the team with two.
But goals could also come from other players, such as Chandler McDaniel, Katrina Guilliou, Jessica Miclat, Malea Cesar, Quinley Quezada or Sarina Bolden.