Filipinas path to Paris a long and winding road

Sarina Bolden (right) is the shining star of the Philippines after scoring eight goals during her title run at the AFF Women’s Championship. —Philippines National Women’s Soccer Team

The Philippine women’s soccer team is expected to pass the early stages of its next ambitious goal: a trip to the City of Love for next year’s Summer Olympics.

But even after being drawn in Group E for the first round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournament scheduled for April 3 to 11 along with Hong Kong, Tajikistan and Pakistan, national coach Alen Stajcic expects many pitfalls for the Philippines.

“It’s a long and difficult road to qualify for Paris,” Stajcic said after the draw ceremony held Thursday at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“But qualifying through Round 1 and trying to get some matches against the big countries in the AFC is a very good and exciting prospect,” he said.

two slots

Two Asian slots are at stake in the Olympics, a goal the Philippines hopes to achieve after securing a historic berth in this year’s FIFA (Federation of International Football) Women’s World Cup.

The seven group winners will advance to the second round to join Asian Cup winners China, South Korea, Japan, North Korea and Australia, all of whom qualify directly based on FIFA rankings.

From there, the remaining 12 teams will be divided into three groups to fight for four places in the final round—the three group winners and the best second-placed team.

The four teams will be bracketed in two-legged playoff pairs to determine which team will make it to the Olympics.

The Philippines have performed well against their first-round foes, having beaten Hong Kong in the 2021 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the 2020 Olympic qualifiers in 2018 in the country’s capital, Dushanbe.

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