By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The Philippine women’s football team faces another acid test when it collides with the dangerous South Koreans in the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup on Thursday, March 5, at the Gold Coast Stadium in Australia.
Match is at 11 a.m. (Philippine time) with the Filipinas determined to regain their footing from a narrow 0-1 defeat against powerhouse host Australia a few days ago.
National team coach Mark Torcaso is aware of the tough hurdle ahead against South Korea, but is confident of his stalwarts to deliver a strong performance.
In fact, the defeat against the Aussies further bolstered the Filipinas’ resolve to make a statement in this tournament.
The Koreans are coming off a morale-boosting 3-0 victory over Iran last Monday, March 2, tying with the Aussies at the helm of Group A identical 1-0 records and three points.
“We’ve obviously had a very tough game against the hosts (Australia), but now our direction looks towards Korea and we’ll experience one of the best and strongest teams in the competition,” said Torcaso on Wednesday, March 4, during a pre-match conference.
“We just want to perform really well for the country. I know the girls will fight to the death; we just want to show our heart and determination, and I think that (the result) will take care of itself if we do that,” he added.
While the focus is obviously to score as many goals as possible, Torcaso also said their focus is to also make sure that they don’t concede.
The No. 22 Koreans, who have won five matches against the Filipinas since 2018 and are 19 rungs above the PH, are also not taking their rivals lightly.
“The Philippines are also very strong opponents and as we have analyzed them, they are very well organized in defense and good at counter-attacking,” said Korean team coach Shin Sang-woo.
While Shin leans on her veteran players that include Ji So-yun and Kim Hye-ri, he also expected better performances from his young stalwarts.
Goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel is out to provide strength to the Filipinas along with Sara Eggesvik, who contested 16 duels against Australia — at least four more than any other player in Group A.
The Filipinas also hope to convert their efforts into victory after making 26 tackles against the Aussies — more than twice as many as any other Group A team.
