The Philippine Women’s Team is set to face Iraq after a convincing 4-0 win against United Arab Emirates in match day 1 of the AFC Asian Cup Jordan 2018 Qualifiers. Goals were scored by Eva Madarang on the 14th and 45th minute, Irish Navaja on the 49th, and Sara Castaneda on the 54th.
Click here to watch the match highlights.
“I’m very happy that we won our first game.” Expressed team captain Patrice Impelido in relation to the match against UAE.
“We worked hard during our camp and you can see it paid off. We were able to move the ball around and keep possession. It was a team effort. It’s always good winning the first game of the tournament. We can use that momentum into the next game against Iraq. We all have the same goal in mind: AFC Women’s Asian Cup Jordan 2018. But we can’t get a head of ourselves and we need to take it one game at a time.”
The team did a training session yesterday in preparation for Iraq who recently played against Tajikistan and lost 1-0. One obstacle they are trying to overcome is the significant drop in temperature in comparison to Philippine climate. Their match is on 05 April 2017, 1:00PM at the Republican Central Stadium in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
“The coaches have seen the match between Iraq and Tajikistan so they will be able to discuss their tactics and which players to look out for. They do a good job to help us prepare for our game.”
Philippines currently sit at 2nd place in group A, trailing Jordan on goal differentials.
The match between Philippines and Iran today can be viewed through this link.