Filipinas eye semis spot vs Vietnamese

THE Philippines faces its sternest test against defending champion Vietnam on Friday for a spot in the final of the 12th Asean Football Federation (AFF) Women’s Championship at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Fresh from their first two-day break in the event, the Filipinas hope to be recharged and renewed for their 8 p.m. semifinal clash with the Vietnamese, who topped Group B with a 4-0 shutout of Myanmar on Wednesday.

Group A topnotcher Thailand, which tripped the host squad 1-0 last Tuesday, battles Myanmar in the other semifinal match at 4 p.m., with the winners disputing the championship on Sunday.

The charges of coach Alen Stajcic aim to shrug off their close loss to the Thais two days ago and focus their full attention on the vaunted Vietnamese, who have hit their stride in completing a five-game sweep of their group without conceding a goal.

The Filipinas will try to buck the odds and history against the reigning AFF Women’s Championship queens, whom they have not beaten in their previous seven meetings in the regional women’s football showcase.

But the score line has become closer with each succeeding match, with Vietnam fashioning a 2-1 decision over the Philippines the last time they met in the semifinals of the 2018 edition held in Chonburi, Thailand.

Last May, the wards of coach Mai Duc Chung also won 2-1 over the hosts when they collided in the group stage of the 31st Vietnam Southeast Asian Games women’s football tournament on the way to retaining the crown on their home pitch.

Given the past experience of both squads, the Vietnamese mentor did not seem worried about facing the Filipinas but was more concerned about how his players would recover fast given the one-day breather before the semis.

Stajcic said that he expected their foes, who didn’t get to see action until July 7 or three days after the competition began, to be fully fit and prepared considering that they had one game less in what he noted was a weaker group.