THE Philippines U15 girl booters pulled off a convincing 12-0 win over Timor Leste Tuesday, May 14, to secure a semifinals berth in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) U15 Girls Championships 2019 at the Institute of Physical Education in Chonburi, Thailand.
Bianca Sy of Dipolog City knocked in five goals to lead the country's charge against cellar dweller Timor Leste. Jonalyn Lucban of Tuloy Don Bosco Foundation and Lani Ortillo each added a brace while Chenny Mae Dañoso of Canlaon City, Maegan Alforque of Cebu City and Bea Luna of Benguet also contributed one goal apiece to complete the rout.
"Semis nami! Happy ko sa gihatag na opportunity na mag-handle sa Philippine team and happy pod mi na miperform ang atoang homegrown talents especially mga provincial players (We're now in the semis! I'm happy for the opportunity to handle the Philippine team and we are also happy that our players from the provinces performed well)," head coach Rachelle "Ching" Delos Reyes, who hails from Davao City, said in a Facebook interview with Sunstar Davao yesterday.
Group A top two teams Vietnam (nine points) and Philippines (six points) both advanced to the semifinals. Vietnam earlier edged Myanmar, 2-1, in the elimination.
Had Myanmar won, they could have figured in a triple tie and the Philippines would have to surpass the goal difference of Vietnam and Myanmar.
Delos Reyes, however, said their semis opponent will be determined after the game between powerhouses Laos and Thailand on Friday, May 17. "Mao ning duha mga kusog jud (These two teams are very strong)," she said.
The Filipinos, according to her, had a swimming time yesterday morning and were set to undergo a recovery training before watching other games as of presstime.
In group B, Laos and Thailand were currently tied with six points for the first and second places while Malaysia and Singapore followed with identical three points. Cambodia, losing all its past three games, was at the bottom.