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Philippine Women's Football Team defeats UST in final scrimmage for qualifiers



by Earl Averilla

MANILA -- An Eva Madarang hat-trick and a cleverly lobbed goal from Alisha Del Campo proved to be enough for the national team to see off an in-form UST Lady Booters, 4 - 1, in Rizal Stadium to prove a point in their readiness to face tough opposition in Tajikistan as they begin their quest to qualify for the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifiers.

The scoreline could have been bigger if not for stout defending by UST on several occasions. But all is not lost on the España-based outfit as a screamer from outside the box put themselves on the score-sheet as consolation to their efforts.

After the game Head Coach Buda Bautista, said that the team played very well in terms of following the tactics. However, there are still some points to improve.

"Although we are happy with the performance but we're not really satisfied. In terms of controlling the game and the goals should be coming from our play." Coach Buda shared.

Indeed, it showed that individual ability got more of the spotlight than fluidity in terms of teamwork but a positive takeaway here could be that the ingredients are there for a competitive squad. The challenge though could be in terms of polishing the application of the system and approach to the game that is expected from the team given the tight and narrow window left before the tournament kicks-off.

The statement of the coach certainly reflected that there is still a lot that the team can give and improve on despite the flattering scoreline against a competitive Santo Tomas squad which is a positive in terms of the vast potential of the pool of talent at hand and something that fans would be glad to know of.

What transpired at Rizal served as the final game of the national team before they head to Dushanbe Tajikistan on Friday, 31st of March. Today, a send-off press conference will be held at 11AM for the final lineup and other official announcements regarding the national team.

Follow him on Twitter @earlaverilla