Filipinas' Paris Olympics hopes hangs in balance despite win vs. Iran

Tahnai Annis celebrates with her teammates after scoring the lone goal of the Filipinas' win against Iran. Neil Bravo/PFF
By Ivan Saldajeno

STA. ROSA, Laguna--The Philippine women's football team's hopes of qualifying for the Paris Olympics boosted greatly on Wednesday.

However, it was not precisely what the Filipinas hoped for as Iran managed to keep the match tight and only fell, 1-0, at the Perth Rectangular Stadium.

Tahnai Annis' 19th-minute goal was the significant difference in the match as the Filipinas are now assured of finishing second place in their group with six points.

However, they needed to win by a huge margin to assure themselves of the best second-placer finish to earn their place in the Final 4.

Iran's defense held forth despite giving up Annis' putback goal off Sofia Harrison's initial attempt, and the Filipinas could only settle for a close win.

With the result, the Filipinas must now hope that Japan beats Vietnam and more importantly, South Korea holds China to a draw and India at least battles Uzbekistan to a draw for them to advance to the third round of qualification.

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