By REYNALD MAGALLON
BANGKOK — All golds weighed just the same – the pride and honor it brings – when it comes to the national team.
But there’s some that has more glint on it than the other largely due to the rarity and difficulty to win it, especially in a sport where the country isn’t really known to be one of the powerhouses.
And that’s exactly the gold medals dangling around the neck of the Philippine women’s football team members after bagging the historic first gold of the sport in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games at the Chonburi Daikin Stadium on Wednesday, Dec. 17 here.
They claimed the gold in the most dramatic – and magical – way possible.
With the gold on the line in the sudden-death penalty shootout, goalkeeper Olivia Mcdaniel made the perfect read on Tran Thi Thu’s attempt as she dove left to catch the ball.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to do it again,” said McDaniels referring to Filipinas victory over Thailand via penalty shootout, 4-2, after a 1-1 draw.
“But I knew we all had a part to play and we knew at the end of the day the job needed to be done. And so we just rallied behind each other and we knew there was nothing else but the gold,” she added.
To the Filipinas, no matter how immense the pressure in front of them, they clearly knew what they wanted when the final whistle stopped.
“I just know I’m going to score. I’m going to do this for my team. So I went in confident because my teammates were very confident and I, going to PKs, I just knew that we had it in the bag,” said Jackie Sawicki who nailed the last penalty kick that put the Filipinas ahead.
They mustered all their might and continued to charge for that one game that served as a defining moment for the team.
“Every single team we played against, they were always on the ground. None of us sat down, none of us were tired, none of us were cramping.
We had that mentality and that mindset to go forward and to keep going. And so I think that’s really what brought us to this gold medal,” stressed Olivia.
A good-sized Filipino crowd inside the arena jumped and shouted for joy and that’s probably the same for those watching on TV and livestream back home – a moment that was in stark contrast when many doubted them after an opening loss to Myanmar.
But they fought, they persevered. They proved that they belong.
“People are always doubting us and talking about us and saying we don’t belong here,” said Mcdaniel.
“But we belong in these conversations. We belong at the top and we’re just continuing to prove that again and again and we want to be regulars at the top,” she stressed.
