Filipinas skipper Tahnai Annis was pleased with their performance against Tajikistan in the 2024 AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Saturday, April 8, calling it a “good team win.”
Annis was among the scorers in the Philippines’ 8-0 demolition of Tajikistan at the Hisor Central Stadium that took them to the top spot in Group E. The 33-year-old midfielder was responsible for the Filipinas’ second goal, volleying a loose ball after a failed clearance from Tajikistan goalkeeper Saidova Saiyora in the 28th minute.
Her effort came just two minutes after Sofia Harrison opened the scoring for the Philippines. They went on to score six more goals, with Chandler McDaniel netting a second-half brace.
“I think it was a good team win,” Annis said.
“We came out pretty strong, with a lot of energy. We had a lot of goals in mind on what we wanted to work on, and how to be effective against a set defense,” she added.
The Filipinas dominated possession and were rarely bothered on defense by the 144th-ranked Tajikistan team. After taking 26 minutes to find the opener, they dealt well with Tajikistan’s defense the rest of the way.
That they were able to break down Tajikistan in the final third pleased Annis.
“When teams sit back and kind of let us dictate where things are going to go, [we] had to be a little more creative on the ball,” she said.
“I think after our first game [against Pakistan], we finally came out and did that,” she added.
The Filipinas opened their campaign with a 4-0 shutout of Pakistan on April 5.
Head coach Alen Stajcic felt that the team “took our foot off the pedal a bit” in the second half, but was nonetheless satisfied with the performance that gave them six points in the qualifiers.
The Filipinas will now try to take care of business against a similarly unbeaten Hong Kong side on Tuesday, April 11, with the winner of the match advancing to the second round of the Olympic qualifiers.
“We are top of the table now and look forward to a tough game against Hong Kong,” Stajcic said. (ABS-CBN News)