By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Philippine women’s football team managed to defeat a tough-fighting Iran, 1-0, but they still saw their AFC Women’s Olympic qualifying tournament come to an end at the HBF Park in Perth, Australia on Wednesday, November 1.

Team captain Tahnai Annis was the difference maker for the Filipinas as they finished in second place in Group A with six points, one victory and a loss behind host Australia.

Annis gave Filipinas an early advantage as she sent the ball to the back of the net in the 19th minute and needed to score more goals to strengthen their chances of moving on to the next round.

Iran tried to revive its Olympic dreams as they pounded the Filipinas’ goal.

Goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel performed routine stops against Negin Sandi and Zahra Ghanbari to protect the Filipinas’ lead before the halftime break.

The 63rd-ranked Iranians turned out to be a formidable team in the second half as they came up with a tougher defense to prevent the Philippine women’s football team from hitting the lead.

The 44th-ranked Filipinas still made their last push during the added time as Quinley Quezada and Sarina Bolden fired a couple of strikes, but they both failed to make their mark.

On the other hand, the Lionesses of Iran finished their campaign tied for the third and fourth spots in Group A with Chinese Taipei, which were defeated by Australia’s Matildas, 3-0.

Only the top team from the three groups along with the best second placer will advance to the third and final round of the 2024 Paris Olympics women’s football event qualification.

Filipinas could have earned the slot to the third round if the game between China and South Korea ends up in a scoreless draw, and India either beats or draws Uzbekistan.

But the stars were not aligned with the Filipinas as the China-South Korea group stage game ended in a 1-1 draw, while Uzbekistan scored a lopsided 3-0 victory against the lowly India./ASC, WDJ