Filipinas captain Hali Long hit a milestone in her personal career as the Filipinas collided with Chinese Taipei in a rare home friendly.
Filipinas team captain Hali Long had mixed emotions after the full time whistle echoed at the Rizal Memorial Stadium Tuesday, signaling the end of the Philippine women’s national football team’s international friendly against Chinese Taipei.
While Long was celebrating a personal milestone, hitting a historic 90th cap for the national team, she also absorbed a tough 0-1 loss against the visitors. Rubbing salt to the wound was the fact that this was the Filipinas’ first home game in three years.
[READ: Filipinas stumble against Chinese Taipei in rare home friendly]
After the match, Long’s face was solemn as she reflected on the whole journey with the national team.
“It’s tough. I didn’t know it was my 90th [cap] until Mark [Torcaso] said something like 20 seconds before the game started. Yeah, every cap is an honor. I mean, I don’t take any of this for granted — friendly, qualifier, I just try to set the best example I can for my teammates. Old, young,” said Long.
“It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get the win tonight here at home. We haven’t played here in a long time. So it’s bittersweet.”
The last time the Filipinas were at Rizal Memorial Stadium for a match was in 2022, when they won a historic AFF Women’s Championship title at the expense of Thailand. Long was also there, of course, being among the stalwarts of the team for the past few years.
Now facing another period of competition, with the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers looming next month, she hopes the Filipinas are able to recover in time.
“Tough loss. But we win as a team and we lose as a team. So, we’ll hock it as a team and luckily it’s just a friendly and we have qualifiers next month to look forward to,” she said.
“It’s a quick turnaround and the temperature’s not much different so, we just got to get ready for that,” Long added.
The qualifiers will be in Cambodia and will be the first step for the Filipinas as they seek another chance at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Despite the setback against Chinese Taipei, Long hopes they are able to learn from their mistakes.
“No, I mean, I never expect to lose, and those are the expectations I set for myself, I set for my teammates. We had big shoes to fill. We made big shoes to fill for ourselves and having those expectations are tough,” Long admitted.
“I don’t want to set myself up to fail. Every game is an opportunity to get better, to learn, and to grow.”
As for how they’re preparing for the qualifiers, Long is adamant that the Filipinas are not stepping off of the gas pedal at all, regardless of who they are facing.
With the team’s future in the FIFA Women’s World Cup on the line, the Filipinas are eager to make amends.
“We don’t take any team lightly. Even our intersquads, our small set of games, get really intense. So, hopefully, we can keep the momentum going to Cambodia and make up for this loss,” said Long.
“Because I think we just fell short. Whether it’s shots or targets, composure, touch, fitness, whatever it is, we just fell short tonight.”
The Philippines opens its campaign in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia on Sunday, June 29.