Philippines Women make World Cup history – in shadow of ‘the three Bs’

On the penultimate day of January, Sarina Bolden scored the final penalty in a shootout that gave the Philippines victory over Taiwan, a place in the semi-final of the Women’s Asian Cup and – the biggest prize of all – automatic qualification to the 2023 Women’s World Cup. This is the first time a Philippines team of any gender at any age level will appear on the global stage.

As spot-kicks go then, it was a big one and the sight of the ball hitting the back of the net in the Indian city of Pune is one that the team’s coach, Alen Stajcic, will never forget. “It was pretty hard to describe – it was a special feeling,” the Australian, who took over last October, says. “Even though that had been the goal deep down for a lot of the players, it was still unexpected for them. It was great seeing people, people who had been there for a long time, celebrate something special.”

One of those celebrating was Mariano Araneta, the president of the Philippine Football Federation. “The achievement of the women’s team can be a gamechanger for the sport here,” he says. “It really goes beyond qualifying for the World Cup. It has given us renewed hope and has inspired all stakeholders to further develop the game.”

Just being there is a big deal, as is the prospect of the nation’s sporting attention being focused on events in Australia and New Zealand in July and August 2023. The Philippines are an outlier in south-east Asia, the only nation in the region of about 650 million people where football is not the number one sport. It has long been said that, in a sporting sense, this former colony of the United States is all about the ‘three Bs’: basketball, billiards and boxing. Whether all three are still as popular is debatable but it is