Vietnam beats the Philippines, Indonesia wins in AFF Women’s Futsal Championship

c/o Philippine Football Federation

Vietnam officially set up its matchup against Thailand for the 2024 edition of the ASEAN Women's Futsal Championship on Tuesday night, defeating the Philippines, 6-1 at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

Head coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang highlighted the need to strike first in order to neutralize an expected partisan crowd. However, it was the Philippines that was putting the pressure towards the visitors through their pressing and attack, with Samantha Hughes being tapped to protect the net.

Vietnam did get their shots in, but the Stallion Laguna FC keeper was up to the task to keep things manageable.

They would eventually break through by forcing a turnover. Tran Thi Lan Mai and K’Thua K’Thua double teamed the Philippines’ Lanie Ortillo, eventually getting the ball near the Philippines goal, with the former firing a shot from a sharp angle that got past Hughes.

The Pinay5 would manage to keep it just a one-goal deficit at the break, but Vietnam would eventually pour it on in the second half.

Le Thi Thanh Ngan would double the lead from within the penalty area.

Although Shai del Campo would provide some hope and optimism with her goal off a feed from Hazel Lustan, the visitors would have an immediate answer.

Trinh Nguyen Hang found Nguyen Phoang Anh a minute later to restore the advantage, with the latter flicking the ball past the Filipina defense.

Vietnam would add three more goals before the final whistle: Lan Mai’s second goal that was headed in off a kick in, a scoring run by Tran Thi Thu Xuan where she ran the length of the floor to take an unimpeded shot, and lastly, K’Thua K’Thua’s cut from the outside after a corner kick.

With the victory, Vietnam gets to face off against Thailand in a preview of the final later today.

The defeat means the Philippines cannot lose against Indonesia tonight, as they already own an inferior goal differential against idle Myanmar, -12 to -11. Otherwise, Myanmar will earn the right to face Indonesia for third.

Thailand, Vietnam dominate in second day of AFF Women's Futsal

The Philippines' Alisha Dle Campo battles Thailand's Patitta Moolpho for possession of the ball as Hazel Lustan looks to get into the play. (c/o Philippine Football Federation)

After an opening day of close and intense matches, Day Two of the 2024 AFF Women’s Futsal Championships saw the favorites flex their muscles and rout their respective opponents.

Vietnam came back from a 2-1 deficit to wallop Myanmar with a four-goal second half and a 5-2 win while Thailand crushed the Philippines with a 7-0 victory at the Philsports Arena.

The day began with Vietnam looking to make short work of Myanmar after they scored in the third minute after Thang Hang blasted the ball from outside the penalty area.

Myanmar’s Nang Seng Brim came off the bench to provide much needed dexterity and daring on the pitch to score seven minutes later and whose shot – that rebounded off Vietnamese keeper Ngo Nguyen Thuy Linh – fell the way of an open Sett New Ni for an incredible 2-1 lead that they carried all the way to the halftime break.

It was a different Vietnam that took to the pitch in the second half as they scored barely a minute into the reset for the equalizer. From there it was no looking back Bien Thi Hang’s 1v1 with Burmese keeper Chaw Sandi Aung gave Vietnam a lead they would not relinquish.

Vietnam stymied Nang Sem Brim, and put the game beyond reach via goals from Than Ngan and K’Thua.

“It was a difficult match for us,” said Vietnamese head coach Tran Van Wu who was proud of the way his team fought back. “We didn’t lose our belief and it was a matter of executing our offense.”

Speaking of offense, Thailand kicked in the afterburners when they pummeled the Philippines 7-0.

Switching their offense based on their scouting of Vic Herman’s girls, Vietnam ditched the diagonal runs and moving into spaces that they utilized against Indonesia during their opening day, 1-nil win over Indonesia. This time, through pivot Darika Peanpailun who battled the Philippines’ Isabella Bandoja all the way, as well as Patitta Moolpho who sprayed passes to Paerploy Huajaipetch, Lalida Chimpabut and others.

Sangrawee Meekham pounced on a rebound and blasted it past the Philippines’ valiant keeper Mykaella Abeto for the opening score. Two minutes later, Thailand doubled their lead with a brilliant trick play off a free kick when Peanpailun and Meekham looked to crowd the ball against the smaller Claire Lubetania and Hazel Lustan respectively. 

Right before Sawitree Mamyalee took the shot, Peanpailun and Meekham moved out of the way dragging their defenders leaving Philippine back-up keeper Samantha Hughes open at the net. Mamyalee’s well placed free kick sailed in straight to the right side of the net with Hughes unable to do anything.

From there on, it was a rout. Thailand was up 4-0 at the half after goals Huajaipetch in the 13th minute and Arriya Saetoen in the 17th minute.

Chimpabut (in the 25thminute), Meekham’s brace (29th) and Nattamon Artkla’s goal in the 39th minute as a late substitute gave Thailand two wins in two matches giving them a foot inside the semi-finals door.

The Philippines had their chances to chip away at that lead but the Pinays were unable to finish.

Despite the lopsided loss, Philippines head coach Vic Hermans remained positive. “Past teams would get clobbered in double digits. Even the men’s team lost 22-0 to Thailand. Games like this are good exposure for the girls. We have to play Vietnam and Indonesia and we will give them a good fight.”

Furthermore, despite the tough loss, it was an even bigger crowd of Filipinos that turned out and in spite of the inclement weather. And they cheered up to the end, egging the Pinays to score.

Monday, November 18’s schedule pits Vietnam and Indonesia in the first game at 4pm while Thailand look to cement their spot in the knockout phase when they battle Myanmar at 7pm.

PFF reveals Pinay5 callups for ASEAN tourney

Five of the Pinay5, via the Philippine Football Federation

The Philippine Football Federation officially unveiled its lineup of players set to participate in the ASEAN Women's Futsal Championship, which the country will host in a couple of weeks.

Five members of the Pinay5: Mykaella Abeto, Isabella Bandoja, Jada Bicierro, Cathrine Graversen, and Lanie Ortillo were present at the presser, which was graced by PFF President John Gutierrez.

The other members of the squad are Princess Cristobas, Agot Danton, Alisha del Campo, Louraine Evangelista, Samantha Hughes, Claire Lubetania, Hazel Lustan, Vrendelle Nuera, Althea Rebosura, Kayla Santiago, and Angelica Teves.

The selection was based from the tryouts that took place at Tuloy sa Don Bosco, which concluded this past weekend. The venue will also serve as the camp for the upcoming tournament, which will see the Pinay5 face off against Myanmar on November 16, Thailand on November 17, Vietnam on November 19, and Indonesia on November 20.

Vic Hermans believes that he has assembled the best team possible, noting "The team’s confidence is there and I [see] that." The Dutch gaffer has been at the helm of the team for quite a bit now, having taken the team to a runner-up finish at the PFF Women's Tri-Nation Futsal Invitational last year at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. Having been the inaugural MVP of the FIFA Men's Futsal World Cup., Hermans also has served as the mentor of Thailand in their run towards four AFF Futsal Championships a decade ago, which also included a SEA Games gold medal during that stretch.

Vic adds. "Last Friday was the first time that I brought them all together, but most of the team members came from the teams [who played futsal in the] last two years. I gave them all the chances and formed a group of 24, and I saw enough this weekend to select a team."

To be held at the Philsports Arena in Pasig, kickoff times for all the Philippines matches will be at 7pm.

Tickets are already available through TicketMax.

Philippines set to hold first AFF Women’s Futsal Championships

c/o Philippine Football Federation

The Philippine Women's Futsal Team has kept themselves busy even with its relative anonymity compared to other sports.

Thanks to the support from the Philippine Football Federation, as well as the Henry Moran Foundation, a pool of players have been training at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna, which has since been boosted by the arrival of Vic Hermans as their head coach.

The Dutch futsal coaching legend has guided three countries into the FIFA Futsal World Cup, and is set to lead our Filipinas into play as the hosts for the inaugural edition of the FIFA Women's Futsal World Cup next year.

Fresh from their second-place finish at the PFF Tri-Nations Cup last year, they are ready for the next step of preparations after locking in an automatic berth for next year.

To help get the team ready, the Philippines will be hosting the inaugural AFF Women's Futsal Championship, which will take place at the Philsports Arena on November 16-21.

Said competition is a five-team tournament involving three of the top 25 teams in the FIFA Women's Futsal rankings.

Thailand is sixth overall, followed by Vietnam at eleventh and Indonesia at 24th. Capping the field is Myanmar at 37th.

Ranked 59th, the Philippines will kick off its participation against Myanmar on Opening Day. They follow that with their matchup against Thailand on the 17th.

After the bye, they will proceed to face off against Vietnam on the 19th, and cap off the round robin against Indonesia on the 20th.

All of the matches involving our countrymen will commence at 7pm.

If the team is lucky, they could play on the final day, which is slated to involve the third place game at 4pm and the final at 7pm.