Malditas reach 2nd round of Asian qualifying for 2020 Olympics

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines booked a ticket to the Second Round of the Asian Qualifiers for 2020 Women’s Olympics  Football Tournament after assuring itself of a Top 2 finish with a game to spare in Group A of the First Round competition Sunday in Hisor, Tajikistan.

The Malditas, powered by the hat-trick-scoring Shelah Mae Cadag, routed Mongolia, 5-1, for their third straight victory. Camille Rodriguez and Kyla Inquig joined the UST forward in the fray to complete the Filipinas’ romp, which came after a 9-0 mangling of Singapore and a come-from-behind 3-1 verdict over host Tajikistan.

Phl XI faces Chinese-Taipei Tuesday to dispute the top spot in the group.

The Malditas joined the Taiwanese and group winners and runners-up of the four other groups into Round 2 of the Qualifiers, where Vietnam and Uzbekistan are seeded. The Pinay booters need no less than a group win here to progress further to the third round, where Australia, China, South Korea, North Korea and Thailand await.