The Philippines is basking in glory as the Southeast Asian Games’ new women’s football titleholder after taking down eight-time winner Vietnam in the finals and before them five-time victor and host Thailand.
“I’m so proud of this team, so proud to be a Filipino and playing for our country,” said goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel after helping the Philippines win the historic gold with a thrilling 6-5 victory over the Vietnamese on penalties after a 0-0 tie after extra time Wednesday night at the Chonburi Daikin Stadium.
“People are doubting us, saying we don’t belong here. But we belong in this conversation, we belong at the top and we’re just continuing to prove ourselves again and again and we want to be regulars at the top,” she added.
In taking the throne, the Filipinas became only the third country to top the tournament after the Vietnamese and the Thais took turns ruling the first 13 editions.
The Pinay booters’ rise as SEAG queens followed a string of achievements highlighted by their 1-0 upset of host New Zealand in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the year before, their breakthrough conquest of the Asean Championship at home and bronze at the pandemic-delayed SEAG in Hanoi, which stood as the best in the meet prior to this triumph.
Throughout this historic campaign, the Pinay booters showed the heart of a lion.
After an opening 1-2 loss to Myanmar to start the 33rd edition, they bounced back strongly, beating Vietnam, 1-0, and Malaysia, 6-0, to secure a semifinal berth.
Engaging the Thais on hostile grounds, they showed steely nerves in winning the deciding penalty shootout, 4-2, after a 1-1 stalemate over 120 minutes, en route to a first-ever finals trip.
It was a sure silver no matter what, but the Filipinas only wanted one color – gold.
So off they went and fought the five-peat-seeking Vietnamese tooth and nail. Just like the semis against the Thais, it went to a shootout and the Pinay booters again stepped up to the plate, sealing history with Jaclyn Sawicki’s go-ahead spot kick and McDaniel’s clinching save against Tran Thi Thu.
“We never wanted to end on a loss, we’re going to win gold or we’re going to win bronze. We gave ourselves no choice so the gold was ours for the taking,” said skipper Hali Long.
“We didn’t lose our first game to lose in the end. We dug out of the hole we put ourselves in and we fought and we crawled and we did everything we could in our power to get to the semifinals, to get finals and put it away. As soon as we went to PKs I knew it was ours,” she added.