The Philippine women’s national football team came out with a masterclass against Cambodia, the host of Group G in Phnom Penh during the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers.
Four different Filipinas scored as the Philippine women’s national football team left host Cambodia in the dust with an electrifying six-nil rout at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, in their second game of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers.
Despite a late game drama that saw Nina Mathelus sent off at the 90th minute with a red card on a contentious challenge, the Filipinas were in cruise control for the most part.
Compared to their three-nil win over Saudi Arabia, the Filipinas displayed better finishing against the Cambodians. Early in the first half, the Filipinas fired off two goals in quick succession courtesy of Alexa Pino and Meryll Serrano.
Pino opened the floodgates with a rocket off of the edge of the box, powering a shot past Cambodian keeper Chea Fariya at the 18th minute. Serrano then followed it up after the hosts were dispossessed within seconds of the restart.
The two goal flurry had the Filipinas ahead, two-nil, after 20 minutes of play.
With more firepower, the Filipinas kept control of the possession game for almost the whole match, with Filipinas keeper Olivia McDaniel
—who was celebrating her 50th cap
—only really challenged in the latter half of the second 45 minutes.
The continuous barrage paid off for more first half goals—the first came from a screamer by Serrano to complete a brace.
At the 36th minute, Serrano exploited a mistake by the Cambodian keeper who was way out of the box.
She lobbed the ball up and over Fariya, who could only watch as Serrano’s ball sailed inside an empty net.
Before the break, the Filipinas ended up with another goal at the 40th minute with a ball from Sofia Wunsch (Harrison) coming off of a defender and ending up behind the net. The goal had come off of an attempted block from Somrit Nimol.
After the break, the Filipinas continued to pile on with goals from captain Hali Long and Chandler McDaniel at the 48th and 56th minutes. Long’s goal came off of a set piece just minutes since the second half started.
Meanwhile, McDaniel converted on a well-placed cross from Carleigh Frilles.
While the Cambodians tried to seek a goal to stop the bleeding and give their fans something to cheer about which kept the Filipinas backline busy late in the match, the hosts couldn’t convert, keeping the Filipinas’ clean sheet.
The Filipinas improved to two wins with six points and a +9 goal difference.
The Filipinas will hope to sweep the tournament and officially claim their place in the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia. They face Hong Kong on Saturday, July 5.