The Philippine Football Federation congratulates the Philippine women’s national football team for its 8-1 domination of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in two Dubai friendly games last April 4 (4-1) and 8 (4-0).
Long-time national team skipper and center back Hali Long has reached twenty international goals, scoring a goal for each match and placing her as the third highest scoring Filipina of all time.
Reigning PFF Women’s Cup Most Valuable Player Chandler McDaniel led the squad with three goals, scoring a brace in the first game and displaying excellent ball mastery for her second game goal, reaching nine international goals.
Also scoring for the Filipinas were Meryll Serrano in the first game, and Sara Eggesvik and Carleigh Frilles in the second game.
Frilles, Eggesvik, and Serrano now have thirteen, six, and five international goals, respectively.
Naeema Juma was the lone scorer for UAE, tallying one in the 89th minute of the first game.
“Congratulations to our women. The Filipinas did their very best despite not having their top two scorers and I think UAE is a good test on how our team can play with a killers’ instinct against lower ranked teams in the upcoming Asian Cup qualifiers in July,” said Philippine Football Federation (PFF) President John Anthony Gutierrez.
“I am satisfied with their performance because they did not mind their discrepancy in ranking, not taking their opponent lightly,” Gutierrez continued.
Como standout Sarina Bolden and Manila Digger’s Quinley Quezada, the team’s top two scorers of all time, missed the friendlies due to injury.
In 2017, the Filipinas likewise scored four goals against scoreless UAE in the 2018 Asian Cup qualifiers, with Eva Madarang scoring a brace and Sara Castaneda and Irish Navaja scoring one each.
This dominant performance signals that the Filipinas are gearing up for several significant international tournaments this year, including the 2025 ASEAN MSIG Serenity Cup, the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 qualifiers, and the Southeast Asian Games.
