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Football: Filipinas showcase growth, improvement in rout of Hong Kong

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Philippine women" s="" national="" football="" team="" against="" Hong="" Kong="" in="" the="" first="" round="" of="" AFC="" Olympic="" Qualifying="" Tournament="" on="" April="" at="" Hisor="" Central="" Stadium="" Tajikistan.="" PFF="" PWNFT="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/04/12/20230411-pwnft-afc-olympic-qualifying-ho-1.jpg"/><figcaption>The Philippine women&#x27;s national football team against Hong Kong in the first round of the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament on April 11, 2023 at the Hisor Central Stadium in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. PFF/PWNFT Media</figcaption></figure></div>The Philippine women&#x27;s national football team recorded a comprehensive victory over Hong Kong on Tuesday night, a result that guaranteed their place in the second round of the AFC Women&#x27;s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.Sarina Bolden grabbed a first-half brace -- including the opening goal after just five minutes -- and Meryll Serrano and Quinley Quezada also found the back of the net in their 4-0 rout of Hong Kong. For Philippine women&#x27;s national team coach Alen Stajcic, their performance was significant in more ways than one. Not only did it complete their three-match sweep of Group E, but it also showcased the growth and development of the team over the past 19 months under his tutelage.&quot;I thought we played well, we controlled the game well, probably our best control we&#x27;ve had this week here against a good opposition,&quot; Stajcic said.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/09/23/football-filipinas-crush-tajikistan-for-2nd-win-in-qualifiers">Football: Filipinas crush Tajikistan for 2nd win in qualifiers</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/05/23/filipinas-open-olympic-qualifying-bid-with-shutout-of-pakistan">Filipinas open Olympic qualifying bid with shutout of Pakistan</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/11/23/filipinas-march-to-2nd-round-of-olympic-qualifiers">Football: Filipinas march to 2nd round of Olympic qualifiers with rout of Hong Kong</a></li></ul>Hong Kong, ranked 79th in the world, was unable to threaten the Filipinas&#x27; goal with Olivia McDaniel needing to make just one significant save late in the match. On the other end, the Filipinas were aggressive and repeatedly broke down Hong Kong&#x27;s defense with their passing game.Stajcic noted that as recently as September 2021, the Filipinas only managed a 2-1 victory against Hong Kong in the AFC Women&#x27;s Asian Cup Qualifiers. That game saw Chandler McDaniel score a late winner to send the Filipinas to the continental tournament. &quot;It shows how much we&#x27;ve improved,&quot; Stajcic stressed.&quot;I&#x27;m really pleased that we won, I&#x27;m really pleased that we got through, I&#x27;m really pleased that we performed well as a group,&quot; he also said.<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2579836" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div style="text-align:center">Filipinas head coach Alen Stajcic and striker Sarina Bolden discuss their 4-0 win over Hong Kong. Courtesy of the PFF/PWNFT.</div>However, the coach was quick to stress that as impressive as the Filipinas were, they still have plenty to work on. Their finishing, notably, was not as clinical as it could have been against Hong Kong with Katrina Guillou and Quezada misfiring in the first half. These are the kinds of chances that the Filipinas have to convert especially when against stronger opposition, Stajcic pointed out.&quot;A large part of the game was pretty good, but our finishing has to be better if we want to compete with the big nations in Asia. We&#x27;ve improved a lot but there&#x27;s still a lot of hard work to do,&quot; the coach said.&quot;We can do a little bit better in [our] execution in the penalty box. I thought we left a few goals out there. To really go to that next level, we need to be better,&quot; he added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/09/23/football-annis-proud-of-good-team-win-vs-tajikistan">Football: Annis proud of &#x27;good team win&#x27; vs. Tajikistan</a></li></ul>Up next for the Filipinas are the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia in May, where they will try to improve upon the bronze medal that they won last year in Vietnam. In July, they will make their debut on the global stage in the FIFA Women&#x27;s World Cup that is jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/multimedia/photo/03/01/23/fifa-womens-world-cup-trophy-tour-makes-stop-in-ph">Filipinas take selfie with FIFA Women&#x27;s World Cup Trophy</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/11/23/2023-womens-world-cup-will-be-watershed-moment-fifa">FIFA predicts 2023 Women&#x27;s World Cup will be &#x27;watershed&#x27; moment</a></li></ul>The second round of the Olympic qualifiers will take place in October.

For Philippine women's national team coach Alen Stajcic, their performance was significant in more ways than one.