By Peter Atencio
Phnom Penh— The Philippines struck in the final moments, with Sarina Bolden heading in the winning shot from up close for a 1-0, triumph over Malaysia Saturday night in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games women’s football tournament at the RCAF Old Stadium here.
Bolden struck the edge of the box at the sixth minute of added time in the final half, handing the Filipinas their first win in two matches in Group A.
The win improved the Philippines’ chances of reaching the semifinals.
Defending champion Vietnam stayed unbeaten in two matches in Group A, putting away Myanmar, 3-1.
The Filipinas bounced back from their 0-1 loss on Wednesday, carrying the momentum against Vietnam on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Beating Vietnam will allow the Philippines to get the top seeding in the knockout semifinals stage.
“It was a tough game. Not the best performance. We may not have played well. But we showed a bit of resilience,” said Filipinas’ coach Allen Stajcic.
The Filipinas had many scoring chances in the second half with at least 12 attacks that could have gone through.
But the heavily defended Bolden could not find the net during the time that she had the ball for most of the last part of the game.