PH futsal team finishes 5th in ASEAN Women’s Championship

The Philippine women’s national futsal team came up short of a win in the ASEAN Women’s Championship after falling to Indonesia, 2-1, on Wednesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City. 

After four assignments, the Pinay 5 couldn’t ride on the spark of their promising debut against Myanmar as they suffered three losses in a row to end the tournament in the fifth place with a 0-1-3 (win-draw-loss) record. 

The Filipina booters, who were vying to play in the battle for third match, conceded the most goals throughout the eliminations to absorb a -13 goal difference (GD) against only four goals made, two of which came from Isabella Bandoja. 

Bandoja fired the equalizer in the 11th minute to keep the match at a stalemate in the first half before Indonesian Nisma Francida Rusdiana struck the go-ahead shot in the final minute which assured her side its second straight win for a 2-0-2 card. 

The loss dropped the Philippines to the bottom of the standings, while it propelled the winless Myanmar, who only had -11 GD, to the fourth spot which set it up for a podium match against Indonesia on Thursday before Thailand and Vietnam tackle each other for the gold match. 

The sixth-ranked Thais finished the eliminations with a spotless record after beating the Vietnamese side, 3-0, in the earlier matchup.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News