Filipinas veteran Jaclyn Sawicki was cool and collected as she slotted in the sixth penalty shot for the Philippines vs Vietnam in their gold medal match in SEA Games 2025 women's football.
BANGKOK — Practice made perfect for Jaclyn Sawicki and the Filipinas as they clinched the gold medal in the SEA Games 2025 in a thrilling penalty shootout against four-time defending champions Vietnam at the Chonburi Stadium on Wednesday night.
For the second game in a row, the Filipinas forced their opponents hand in a scoreless stalemate even after 30 minutes of extra time. Vietnam had earlier scored around the half hour mark, but was waved off as offside by the officials.
It took six penalty shots — the last being from Sawicki — to finally get the historic victory for the Filipinas, which marked the first time ever that any Philippine team has won the gold in SEA Games football.
For Sawicki, it was all about doing things the way that they practiced — with penalty shootouts becoming somewhat the Filipinas’ specialty.
[RELATED: Filipinas stun four-peat champion Vietnam for historic SEA Games gold in women's football]
“You know, the way I practiced my PK yesterday, the girls kind of practiced it in a way I wouldn't normally take it. And the girls looked at me and said, are you going to take it like that? And I just, in my head, I said, I don't know, but I just know I'm going to score,” Sawicki told POC Media at the venue on Wednesday night.
“I’m going to do this for my team. So I went in confident because my teammates were very confident. Going to PKs, I just knew that we had it in the bag,” she added.
For flag and country
Unlike most of her teammates, Sawicki is dealing with a lot more fatigue after she recently suited up for the Philippines in futsal as well during the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup held in the Philippines just a few weeks before SEA Games.
But even at 33 years old, Sawicki said that there is nothing she isn’t ready to do for the national team — both the Filipinas and Filipina5.
“Yeah, I think it's been very emotional, this campaign. I'm also into my fourth camp back-to-back. I do this for the same reason every time, for my family, for my teammates that give their heart and soul to this program. They give me the energy. I love what I do,” said Sawicki.
“I love this. I love playing for the flag. You just take these opportunities with your hands and you just run with it,” she added.
Sawicki further acknowledged that time is ticking for her national team career. After seeing Filipinas veteran Inna Palacios also retire from the national team on Wednesday night, Sawicki reflected on her own time with the team.
“I know that I don't have many games left at my age, so I'm just really trying to take every opportunity as it comes and to not look back,” she said.
The Filipinas thus head into their preparations for upcoming AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia next year with sky-high confidence.
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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.