The Philippine women’s national football team has bowed out of the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup with a 5-1 defeat against sixth-ranked Argentina on Thursday night at the PhilSports Arena.
The Filipinas5 wrapped up their campaign with a 0-0-3 record along with a -11 goal difference (GD) in Group A, while Argentina’s first two victories against Morocco (6-0) followed by Poland (3-2) proved to be enough for the next round.
The clash saw Isabella Bandoja nail the consolation goal for the Philippines at the 27th-minute mark in the second half, which was all the home crowd needed to make its unwavering support count.
Earlier, the world No. 31 Moroccans barged into the quarterfinals after outlasting 14th-ranked Poland, 1-nil, thanks to Jasmine Demraoui’s lone goal of their dispute.
From down -6 GD following its opening loss to Argentina, Morocco came alive with a 3-2 upset against the Philippines before holding off Poland to a scoring drought.
Despite an inferior -4 GD compared with Poland’s +4 at the end of the group fixtures, Morocco earned six points to extend its promising campaign in the competition.
Meanwhile, Argentina grabbed all nine points in the pool play after Lara Villalba opened the floodgates for the visiting side with her first-minute strike.
Before the Filipinas could recover, Mailen Romero and Luciana Natta slotted in two more goals in quick succession just two minutes later.
Argentina continued its onslaught inside the first six minutes of the opening half after Agostina Chiesa found the back of the net, which was followed by a penalty kick from Melina Quevado shortly after to make it a 5-0 lead for her side.
The Philippines defended fairly well from then on until the second half, where it held more possessions and created more shots on target, which eventually landed Bandoja a chance to nail one home.
“Para sa akin, we did very well. Siyempre it was the last game. Binuhos na namin lahat dito. Trinabaho namin to from preparations pa lang up until today sa last game namin,” said Bandoja.
Asian powerhouses Thailand and Japan remain in the running for the next round.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News