The Philippine men’s under-22 squad is determined to regroup after a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals of men’s football in the 2025 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The Filipino booters went toe-to-toe with Vietnam for nearly 90 minutes before allowing two late goals that ended their hopes of playing for a gold medal.

Not all is lost for the team, however, as they can still make it to the podium.

The Filipino booters play Malaysia in the bronze medal match on Thursday, December 18 — and a win will give them their best-ever showing in the SEA Games.

“This [semis loss] hurts because this means everything, to the players and to the country. You could see the emotion, they gave every last ounce of energy, mentally and physically,” said coach Garrath McPherson after their 0-2 defeat on Monday night, December 15.

“This group has a strong character. We’ll reflect on how close we came, but we don’t stop here. The day after, we march forward, one foot in front of the other, keep moving forward, keep growing, towards the bronze medal match,” he added.

Malaysia, for its part, lost 0-1 to host Thailand in their own semifinals.

The Philippine booters are in this deep stage of the competition for only the second time in their SEAG participation.

The first was in 1991 in Manila, where a legendary team led by Norman Fegidero fought for the bronze but lost to Singapore, 0-2, to settle for fourth. (ABS-CBN News)