Filipinas fall to Chinese Taipei in first hosting in three years

June 4 ------ THE Philippines was nipped by Chinese Taipei, 1-0, in their international friendly at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Saki Matsunaga scored for the visitors in the 27th minute following a miscue by Sara Eggesvik for the lone goal of the match against the Filipinas side that are playing their first official home match in three years.

Eggesvik failed to collect the ball cleanly at the back, with Matsunaga picking up the loose ball and scoring over Philippines’ goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel. The Filipinas couldn’t manufacture a clear shot on goal afterwards in the friendly match before 3,312 fans that capped off the final training camp of the squad held in Manila before they head to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers to be held later this month in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

While disappointed not to have captured a win on home soil, Philippines coach Mark Torcaso was proud of the effort of the team in the second half where they kept attacking for scoring chances, and the defense keeping Chinese Taipei from coming up with another goal. “It’s always tough losing a game on any sport,” said Torcaso. “But you probably saw the character of what are girls are actually all about in the last 35 minutes. I can’t doubt the fight in these girls, and that’s something that we’ve been doing over the last six months, fighting and working hard for each other.” “I’m extremely proud of them. Obviously, not the result that we would want because we want to win every single game. But it’s a good preparation game for the Asia Cup qualifiers, and that’s the one thing we are looking forward to.”

The Filipinas also lost, 1-0, to Chinese Taipei in a closed door match last Friday.

Source: spin.ph