Hali Long marked a significant milestone in her individual career with the Filipinas, achieving her 100th cap during their match vs. Thailand in the SEA Games 2025 semifinals.
BANGKOK — Filipinas captain Hali Long had double the reason to celebrate after the Philippine women’s national football team clinched its first-ever final in SEA Games history with their 1-1 (4-2) win over host country Thailand at the Chonburi Stadium.
Aside from playing a key role in clinching the win via penalty shootout with her scoring the fourth penalty kick for the Philippines, she was also celebrating a personal milestone with 100 confirmed appearance with the national team.
Having been with the national team in the past decade, Long has been a witness to all the ups and downs of the Filipinas.
Now as the team faces a crossroads in its first-ever shot at the gold in the SEA Games, there is nothing more she can ask for.
“It’s an unreal feeling that I’ve come this far and watching this team grow, develop, change, shift, is something I wouldn’t trade for the world and I couldn’t have done it without my teammates who have been there every second of the way and I’m really grateful for them,” Long said.
“[I’m grateful for] everyone that’s been there, all the management that have come and gone, that have watched my journey, watched me play, [and] my family.”
Even after establishing herself as a pillar in Philippine women’s football, Long knows that the job is not yet finished — for herself and for the Filipinas — with the SEA Games final and the looming AFC Women’s Asian Cup coming in March next year.
While relishing another historic moment for the team, Long will be locking in anew with defending champions Vietnam waiting in the gold medal match.
“I mean, a win is a win. Am I satisfied? Yes, because we’ve reached our goal of going to the final. Our goal was to win our final game, and we plan to do that,” she said.
“Yes, there’s stuff to always work on after a game, but, right now, we’re just gonna enjoy this feeling that we’ve never had,” she continued.
Never-ending fire
Though Long has already been through milestone after milestone with the Filipinas, she doesn’t have any plans to stop.
In fact, shortly after winning over Thailand, Long was already raring to go against Vietnam. Making history time and time again, Long and the Philippine women’s national football team are in the mood for rewriting the record books once more.
“It’s one last game and we plan to just… work harder, like I’m not saying we’re [ready to play] the game right now, but we’re ready,” she said.
“We’re not tired, we’re hungry, we want it. It’s a first time feeling for us, and a familiar feeling for Vietnam.”
Long and the Filipinas play for gold in Chonburi Stadium on Wednesday, December 17.
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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.