Ramirez scores late goal as Filipinas shock Vietnam to revive SEA Games semis hopes

BANGKOK — Not one, but two defending champions downed.

The Philippine women’s national football team took a page from their male counterparts’ book as they stunned defending champions Vietnam, 1-nil, to breathe life back into their semifinals hopes in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games at the IPE Chonburi Stadium on Monday.

The crucial victory by the Filipinas happened just minutes after the U21 team was able to beat men’s defending champs Indonesia over in Chiang Mai, which propelled the Philippine men's team to their first SEA Games semifinals since 1991.

[RELATED: Philippines stun defending champs Indonesia, end 34-year SEA Games football semis drought]

The Filipinas, who were hurt by a last minute goal against Myanmar in their Group B opener, made sure to dish out the same treatment against a frustrated Vietnam side which struggled to get anything past Hali Long and Olivia McDaniel.

After scoring her maiden goal for the Filipinas vs. Myanmar, Mallie Ramirez built on a header attempt from Long, which was initially blocked by the Vietnamese defense.

But Ramirez was in the right place at the right time as she converted on the rebound and pulled the Filipinas ahead deep into added time.

Vietnam was left shell-shocked as the Filipinas hung on for the win and kept themselves in the running for the medal rounds.

Still, the Filipinas will still have a lot on their plate as they would need to win over Malaysia in their last game — by a sizeable margin at that — to hopefully clinch their spot in the semifinals.

The Filipinas won bronze in the 2022 edition in Vietnam, but missed the cut in Cambodia in 2023.

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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.

Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.