Philippines eliminated despite clobbering Palestine

By Adrian Stewart Co

Despite the Philippine women’s national football team, the Malditas, dominating their Palestinian counterparts, 7-0, earlier this week at the Saoud bin Abdulrahman Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar, they still fell short in the standings and were eliminated in the second round of the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Midfielder Joyce Semacio opened scoring with a penalty in the 17th minute, which made her the only Filipino player to score in all three of their second round matches.

Striker Alisha del Campo made it 2-0 in the 29th minute, which was quickly followed by a goal from forward Eva Madarang in the 31st.

Into the second half, Madarang earned a brace in the 60th minute and defender Patrice Impelido made it 5-0 two minutes later.

A pair of goals by midfielder Sara Castañeda, in the 66th minute and a penalty in the 70th, capped off the massive win.

The Philippines finished three points behind Chinese Taipei, who topped the group and advanced to the third round./ASC, WDJ