MANILA, Philippines, February 16 ------ The Philippine women’s national football team was denied a winning start to their 2023 campaign in the Pinatar Cup as Wales converted on a penalty kick, 1-nil, to nip the Filipinas in the Pinatar Arena in Spain on Wednesday (early Thursday morning, Manila time).
After the Filipinas defense denied any goals for the Welsh for most of the first half, a challenge by Dominic Randle in added time inside the box was deemed a foul to give the opponents a penalty kick. Kayleigh Green got past Olivia McDaniel to net the only goal of the match, 1-nil.
Coming out of the break trailing, the Filipinas jumped the gun in the second half as Katrina Guillou had a good shot on goal at the 48th minute. But the Safia Middleton-Patel was able to deny the attempt and keep the score in favor of the Welsh.
Guillou’s try turned out to be the Filipinas’ best chance to equalize as they struggled to find a legitimate run at goal afterwards. Still, the Nationals were able to hold their ground against the higher-ranked Welsh and denied them a second goal. McDaniel provided a crucial save in added time to keep the score at 1-nil. However, time ran out for the Filipinas for a last gasp attempt to equalize as the referee whistled for full time before McDaniel could get in a goal kick.
In the earlier game, Iceland beat Scotland, 2-0, to gain the early lead in Pinatar. The Filipinas will seek their first win in the tournament against the Scots when they clash on Saturday, February 18.
Source: philstar.com
Commenti