Malditas kick off journey to 2020 Tokyo Olympics

MANILA, Philippines — After their milestone stint in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, the Philippine Malditas next set out to make it to the 2020 Olympics.

The Pinay booters will try to take the first step towards Tokyo in the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament 2020 Asian Qualifiers Round 1, where they got bracketed with Chinese Taipei, Singapore, Tajikistan, and Mongolia in Group A following yesterday’s draw.

Phl XI needs to get in the Top 2 of Group A, or finish as one of the two best third-placers across all groups in the Nov. 4-13 qualifiers to progress to Round 2 next April.

“We like the Philippine Women’s National Team’s chances to advance to the next round of the qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said Philippine Football Federation general secretary Edwin Gastanes.

The squad will aim to sustain the gains from its strong showing in the Women’s Asian Cup, where they finished just one spot short of fifth place and a berth in the Fifa Women’s World Cup.

“Last April, we saw the team go close to qualifying for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, now the team will have another crack of qualifying for one of the biggest women’s football tournaments in the world, the Olympics,” said Gastanes.