Matsunaga, Taipei edge Filipinas in friendly match

VISITING Chinese-Taipei spoiled the Filipinas’ homecoming gig at the Rizal Memorial Stadium with a 1-0 verdict in their international friendly Tuesday night in front of 3,312 Pinoy fans.

Taiwanese striker Saki Matsunaga pounced on an error by Sara Eggesvik to slot the ball past keeper Olivia McDaniel in the 27th minute as the Taiwanese gained the head start against a Philippine side that struggled to find attacking momentum without aces Sarina Bolden, Katrina Guillou and Quinley Quezada.

Despite falling short in the squad’s first game at the refurbished Rizal since it captured a breakthrough Asean title there in 2022, coach Mark Torcaso found some positives in the players’ no-quit attitude.

“It’s always tough losing any game in any sport. But you probably saw the character, what our girls are actually about in that last sort of 35 minutes. And I can’t doubt the fight in these girls. That’s something that we’ve been doing for the last six — constantly fighting and working hard for each other — and I’m extremely proud of them,” he said.

The Australian mentor valued the learning the Filipinas got from this window, especially the new additions, heading to the big battle ahead — the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers set June 29 to July 5 in Cambodia.

“It’s not the result obviously that we would want because we want to win every single game. But it’s a good preparation game for our Asian Cup qualifiers (campaign) and that’s the one thing that we’re really looking forward to. We want to go to Cambodia and put up a good show for the country and qualify for the Asian Cup,” he said.

The Filipinas will be up against the host Cambodians, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia in Group G in Phnom Penh, where only one ticket to the 2026 Continental bootfest will be awarded. — Olmin Leyba