Filipinas see SEAG gold in their football finals match with Vietnam

Match on Wednesday
(Chonburi Daikin Stadium)
7:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. Manila Time) – Vietnam vs Philippines

CHONBURI — Win or lose, it’s already a victory being in the finals for the first time ever.

But ever the history makers, the Filipinas wanted to wrap up their run in the 33^rd Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) here with a gold medal, no less.

“We’re hungry, we want it,” said “centurion” Hali Long, the Philippine women’s football team’s skipper as they gear up for the title duel with defending champion Vietnam on Wednesday at the Chonburi Daikin Stadium.

“It’s a first-time feeling for us, and a familiar feeling for Vietnam.”

The Filipinas put themselves in position to go all the way after hurdling their last two assignments in Group A, 1-0 over Vietnam and 6-0 over Malaysia, then outdueling host Thailand on penalties, 4-2, after a 1-1 standoff in extra time in their semifinal thriller.

“Coming to the SEAG, our goal was to win our final game, and we plan to do that,” Ms. Long said.

Ms. Long is one of the key members of the iconic 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup team that scored a historic 1-0 win over host New Zealand and the side that won a breakthrough Asean championship in 2022 along with Liv McDaniel and Sara Eggesvik who are teaming up with promising youngsters like Alexa Pino and Mallie Ramirez here.

“We’ve got a very good (mix) of senior players who’ve played a hundred games and we’ve got an excellent, exciting group of players who’ve only played their first match this tournament,” said coach Mark Torcaso.

“So the game for us, the gold medal match is an experience — one that we want to win and one that we also want to use as preparation for our Asian Cup campaign (next year) and we want to play the best teams here in the SEA Games. We’re proud to be in the last match so we’re looking forward to it and we’re going to be ready,” he added. — Olmin Leyba