This has already proven to be a momentous year for Philippines women's football, featuring a maiden World Cup appearance followed by a first goal and their first win. But history waits for no one; to stand still in football is to go backwards. For the Filipinas, focus has now turned to another first: Paris and securing a debut appearance at an Olympic Games. Waiting on the road, standing between them and a ticket to France, is one of the most daunting challenges in women's football: World Cup semifinalists Australia at a packed Optus Stadium on Sunday. The Matildas have loomed large in the planning of Philippines coach Mark Torcaso and his staff for months, an opponent who will ensure that further history is well and truly earned.
Torcaso took over the Philippines post in August, filling the void left by Alen Stajcic's departure earlier that month. Having won acclaim for the job he'd done with the traditional Asian minnows, highlighted by a first World Cup win against host nation New Zealand, former Matildas coach Stajcic had opted to move on at the end of that tournament, and he was promptly named as coach of Perth Glory's A-League Men side. But having had some luck with Australians, the Philippine Football Federation quickly secured the services of the reigning A-League Women Coach of the Year to replace him; Torcaso filled the role in tandem with his position at Western United.
Heading to Perth for the second phase of AFC qualifying, having cruised through the first phase in April without conceding a goal, the Philippines commenced their play in Group B positively on Thursday -- recording a 4-1 win over Chinese Taipei before the Matildas defeated Iran 2-0 in the second match of the double-header. Yi-yun Hsu put Chinese Taipei ahead in the 47th minute only for the Filipinas to rally and score four unanswered goals through a Sarina Bolden brace, Katrina Guillou and Chandler McDaniel. Alas for anyone hoping for a sentimental reunions, Stajcic wasn't in the stands to watch his former side in action; he's been in New Zealand since Tuesday as his Glory prepare to take on Wellington Phoenix.
Going top of Group B on goal difference, the three-goal win was a strong opening salvo in Torcaso's campaign to secure advancement to the third and final stage of Olympic Qualifying; that will be staged in February in the form of two home-and-away playoffs to determine which two nations head to Paris as AFC representatives. Australia are widely expected to comfortably secure one of those slots as the winners of Group A -- doing so as World Cup semifinalists should be a base expectation -- but the Philippines' road isn't completely reliant upon them staging an unlikely upset against the Asian heavyweights.
With three groups in this phase of qualification, the best second-placed finisher from them will also progress to the next stage. Ostensibly, Group B is considered favourite to provide that runner-up -- with South Korea, North Korea, and China all in that pool as three of the strongest sides in Asia. However, that very strength may prove their weakness when it comes to providing a best second-place finisher: Each side is more than capable of taking results off each other and, thus, limiting the number of points they will accumulate across the round-robin fixtures.
The door, therefore, is potentially open for the Filipinas -- or Uzbekistan in Group C, after they defeated Vietnam 1-0 in their opening fixture -- to claim the best runners-up spot; indeed, if the Philippines secure six points from their other games, they night not even need to take a point from Australia to qualify. Meanwhile, North Korea defeated China 2-1 on Thursday but must now face off with their southern rivals, who thumped Thailand 10-1 in their opening game, on Sunday.
Torcaso wants a win against Australia, first and foremost, but he knows the bigger picture. And he believes his side's Asian Games experience in September can provide a template for advancement. Heading to Hangzhou in China to compete in that tournament in his first games in charge, Torcaso oversaw wins over Myanmar and Hong Kong that ensured his side secured group-stage progression as one of the best second-placed sides despite a loss to South Korea.
"We sort of rehearsed that a little bit at the Asian Games," Torcaso told ESPN before heading to Perth. "We knew we were playing South Korea, who [were] a very good side, and we knew that Hong Kong and Myanmar were teams that were good but were teams that we could beat and we should beat.
"We did well against Hong Kong, won the game [3-1], lost against South Korea [5-1] but set up in a certain way. We prepared those three games similar to the way that we'll prepare for these ones. And then we went out and we were quite aggressive against Myanmar, and got a really good result [3-0].
"That experience is definitely going to hold us in good stead going into this opportunity, with Australia in particular. We want to be as competitive and as successful as we possibly can against the teams that we know that we should beat, and then be disciplined against the Matildas."
The formula is simple. Get strong results against the sides you're expected to beat, and keep things tight against the group's heavyweight. And given the Matildas struggled mightily to break down a stubborn, embedded low block in their opening match against Iran -- the 2-0 scoreline was significantly less than could have been expected based on the two nations' resumes and prevailing circumstances -- early signs are that it could bear fruit.
Hurling themselves time and time again against an Iran side getting eight, nine, 10, and sometimes all 11, players behind the ball, the Matildas struggled to find a way to unlock the wall of red shirts throughout the 90 minutes. Ellie Carpenter secured the initial breakthrough in the 19th minute but Australia failed to score again until the 78th minute, when Sam Kerr, thrown into the fray off the bench, added the second against fatiguing opponents.
The Matildas ended the game with 79% possession, 25 shots, and 19 corners, but only six shots were on target -- and those only started to come as Iran slowed in the second stanza. In theory, the more experienced Philippines should have a greater physical capacity to maintain their defensive discipline for longer, and, in the form of players such as Bolden and former Matildas defender Angie Beard, players with the pace to punish their opponents in transition.
Of course, the challenge is still immense. Players such as Kerr, Steph Catley, Mary Fowler, Caitlin Foord and Katrina Gorry received limited or no minutes against Iran after arriving from their European clubs. They should be in a better position to contribute on Sunday, and Tony Gustavsson's side should also have greater cohesion after spending more time together on the training track. If Torcaso sets up his side to be able to transition, there's also every chance that there will be more holes to exploit than Iran's iron tortoise left exposed. And maybe the Matildas' many shots -- Emily van Egmond's long-range efforts, Charlie Grant's shot that sizzled past the post, or Alanna Kennedy's free header, for example -- bounce more favourably this time around.
Torcaso has taken some heart from his side's Asian Games performances against credentialled opponents as something of an omen, much as they couldn't ultimately be sustained for the full 90 minutes, Bolden gave the Philippines the lead in their group-stage defeat by South Korea, and the Taegeuk Ladies took the lead through Son Hwa-yeon only in the 44th minute. Japan fielded a young, understrength side but still went on to claim gold, and they led the Philippines only 1-0 at halftime despite Hali Long's 27th-minute red card -- and that goal from Momoko Tanikawa was a penalty.
"I learned that they're a really hard-working team, in particular for each other and their country," Torcaso said. "They're very passionate about their flag and their colours and where they're from. They don't stop regardless of the results.
"What it did for me was show that we've got a group of players that are very disciplined: Set them a task and an instruction, and they'll deliver. Now it's just stringing it [together] for more than 60 minutes and trying to keep 11 plays on the park. I've got no doubt that we can really cause some problems with some big nations."