SOUTH Korea dealt the Philippines a 5-0 beating at dawn on Tuesday to crush all of the Malditas’ hopes of clinching a historic World Cup of football berth.
The rout happened during the knockout stage of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup 2018 at the Amman International Stadium in Ammam, Jordan, where the Filipinas put up a gallant stand but wilted against one of the stronger teams in the world.
The Koreans earned the continent’s last ticket to the World Cup but the way the match started, it looked as if the Malditas had their dream in the bag.
The match went scoreless in the first half hour with striker Sarina Bolden almost drawing first blood for the Malditas from a tight angle that was foiled by the Korean goalie in the 32nd minute. The Koreans broke the ice in the 34th minute behind Jang Sel-gi’s conversion and Lee Min-a making pegging the count at 2-0 just before halftime.
The momentum stayed with South Korea, with Lim Seon-joo delivering their third goal in the 56th minute and team captain Cho So-Hyun scoring brace in the 66th and 84th minutes.
For Philippine Football Federation (PFF) officials, finishing sixth was not bad for a first timer.
“We had hoped for a ‘Miracle in Jordan,’ but having played against the best teams in Asia is already a great honor and a memorable experience for the Philippine women’s national team,” PFF President Mariano Araneta said.
The Malditas had a promising start by beating host Jordan, 2-1, but lost their remaining matches in Group A to China (0-4) and Thailand (1-3) before losing in the playoff to South Korea.