TEAM Philippines is playing strong and with lots of energy.
Skipper Tahnai Annis said this ahead of the Philippine national women’s football team’s crucial game against Hong Kong on Tuesday in the first round of Asian Football Confederation Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the Hisor Central Stadium in Tajikistan.
Annis said their dynamic style of play has shown in how they brushed aside host Tajikistan, 8-0. She expects this to once again help them get past their rivals in their next encounter.
“I think it was a good team win. We came out pretty strong, with a lot of energy and we had a lot of goals in mind on what we wanted to work on and how to be effective against a set defense,” said Annis in a statement.
With the win, the FIFA world no. 49-ranked Philippines is on top of Group E, with 6 points behind back-to-back wins and a goal difference of plus-12.
Hong Kong, which is far behind in the FIFA rankings at no. 79, is in second place with six points but with a goal difference of plus-6.
“When teams sit back and kind of let us dictate where thing are going to go so we had to be a little more creative on the ball and I think after our first game we finally came out and did that,” added Annis.
The Filipinas scored six goals against the home side, with Sofia Harrison making the first mark in the 26th minute, before Annis doubled the team’s lead in the 28th minute.
Already in the second round are Iran, Vietnam, Thailand and India, as Group B, C, D and F of the first round drew to a close.
The Philippines and Uzbekistan are among the teams in contention for the two other first-round slots to the second round.
PH women’s team tackles Hong Kong belles next
