By Jean Malanum
MANILA – Hopes are high that the Philippines will advance to the playoff stage of the ongoing Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup in Australia.
Australian Mark Torcaso, the head coach of the Philippine team, has remained optimistic after the Filipinas defeated the Iranian Lionesses, 2-0, in their final game in the group stage Sunday at the Cbus Super Stadium in Queensland.
“We are praying and hoping that a few goals is enough for us to make it out of the group,” Torcaso said in a news release Monday.
The Filipinas are seeking to become one of the best-placed third placed squads in the tournament. They finished with a 1-0-2 (win-draw-loss) record after sending the Iranians their third straight loss.
The Iranians, who played minus two players who were injured during their games against the South Korean Taeguk Ladies and the Australian Matildas, are now out of contention in the playoff stage.
Teams that advanced to the next round were South Korea and Australia (Group A), North Korea and China (Group B) and Japan (Group C).
Chinese Taipei, which beat Vietnam, 1-0, on Saturday, remained in the hunt for the last playoff seat.
Vietnam and Uzbekistan are in contention for the two third-placed teams to qualify. Uzbekistan still has one more match, against Bangladesh. (PNA)
