Lady booters clobbered by Viets

NAKHON RATCHABURI – All the RP lady booters can do now is pray.

Their fate is no longer in their hands after the Vietnamese amazons reduced them to a pulp, 10-0, in a one-sided match of the 24th Southeast Asian Games women’s football event at the Tumbon Mueangpug Stadium here yesterday.

The question is whom the Vietnamese should be more compassionate with – the Filipinas or close neighbor Laos.

The Vietnamese could give the Filipinas a free ride to the semifinals by beating the Laotians by 11 goals or more in their match tomorrow.

Laos joins Vietnam in the crossover semis if the former wins or absorb a loss with lesser number of goals than what the Viets dealt the Filipinas.

“We’re down but we’re still hoping and praying. Definitely, Vietnam can score more than 10 goals against Laos,” said RP star Marielle Benitez.

The Vietnamese came out smoking in their first match in the tourney, blasting the Filipinas with six goals right in the first half.

Quicker and a lot more organized, the Vietnamese dominated the Filipinas with consummate ease, with Do Thi Ngoc Cham and Doan Thi Ngoc Anh coming through with a hat-trick each. Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet added two goals and Bui Thi Tuyet Mai and Tran Thi Kim Hong a goal each from 22 attempts.

The Filipinas were forced to play defense most of the way, getting only two attempts from Marilou Rubio and Angeline Impelido. – Nelson Beltran