The young stars of the Philippine women’s national football team are making a name for themselves during their campaign in the 2025 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand.
The Filipinas revived their hopes of making the semifinals after a sensational 1-0 win over defending champion Vietnam — a victory that they earned in the dying moments of the match.
SEA Games debutant Mallie Ramirez, only 21 years old, scored deep into stoppage time to stun Vietnam and give the Philippines their first win of the competition after losing their first assignment against Myanmar.
It was already her second goal of the SEA Games, having gotten on the board in their 1-2 loss to Myanmar last December 5.
Jael Marie Guy and Alexa Pino, a pair of 18-year-olds, earned their starts in the Philippine attack line against the Vietnamese and held their own.
Isabella Pasion, 19 years old, is also getting raves for her strong performance, too.
“I’m very proud of all the girls. We have started with three young players up front [versus Vietnam] — Mallie, Jael and Pino — and they fought very hard to get the result altogether along with our experienced players,” said Filipinas coach Mark Torcaso.
“Bella has been an absolute rock for us in our last seven, eight international matches. She fights so hard for the country, and she’s the most aggressive player that I’ve coached,” he said of Pasion, who made a big defensive play against Vietnam.
Torcaso said the emergence of the youth brigade augurs well for the program down the road.
“There’s a good group of players here for the future of our country. We have a number of 18- to 23-year-olds here in this group, and it’s an exciting time for our country, not just for the Asian Cup but beyond,” said the Australian mentor.
“And I’m excited I’m with them right now, and I hope we get to the next part of the competition because I believe they will be very tough to beat,” he added.
The young players are tipped to perform well anew when the Filipinas battle Malaysia in a must-win game on Thursday, December 11. (ABS-CBN News)