Samantha Hughes said the Filipina5 are grateful and honored to represent the Philippines in SEA Games 2025 futsal, right after competing in the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup.
The Filipina5 experienced competing in the futsal world stage. But competing in the Southeast Asian Games is very different.
Goalkeeper Samantha Hughes shared the observation after the Philippine women's futsal team bowed to host Thailand in the SEA Games 2025 bronze medal match, 0-5.
Just last month, the Filipina5 competed against the best in the world as the Philippines hosted the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup.
"Of course, the World Cup is the biggest competition in the world stage. It's very similar but very different to compare the World Cup in front of our home crowd," Hughes shared with Cignal's Dyp Dypiangco and Alyssa Valdez.
"The competition was very different in the sense that in front of our home crowd, in front of the whole world. And the SEA Games, it's our first time participating and I think as a team we're extremely grateful and honored to be able to represent the Philippines in the SEA Games. This competition was very tight."
The Philippines' bright spot in the competition was a 3-1 win against Malaysia, breaking an 18-year losing streak against the country.
"All the top four countries fought very hard. Everybody played extremely well and this competition has just been phenomenal."
For now, the Filipina5 get some much-needed rest. They did spend three to four months training for both competitions.
This is not the end. It's just the start for the Filipina5.
(With reports from Dyp Dypiangco, Alyssa Valdez/Cignal)
Katrina Alba is a sports journalist and producer, notably with SportsCenter Philippines before taking on her current role at One Sports.
She primarily writes about basketball and volleyball, with experience covering the SEA Games, Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup.
Outside of work, her hobbies include running, swimming, pickleball, yoga, arnis, and krav maga.