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Diving to her left last December, goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel smothered Trần Thị Thu’s spot kick, rose, and booted the ball away before she was swarmed by her teammates. After 120 minutes had been unable to separate them, the Philippines had defeated Thailand on penalties to win their first Southeast Asian Games gold medal in women’s football. In doing so, they made further footballing history for their nation, as well as supercharging their momentum heading into this year’s Women’s Asian Cup.
That night at the Chonburi Stadium represented the first time that the Philippines had ever reached the final of the SEA Games, let alone gone on to win the gold medal. The women’s tournament, to that point, had been dominated by a duopoly of Vietnam, with eight titles, and Thailand, with five. But the Filipinas have made something of a habit of breaking new ground in recent years and, with Asian football’s premier showcase looming, eagerly await the prospect of doing so once more when the tournament kicks off Down Under.
Under former Matildas coach Alen Stajcic, the side reached the semifinals of the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup in India, securing them a place at the following year’s Women’s World Cup across Australia and New Zealand — the first time that either a men’s or women’s side from the Philippines had secured a place at football’s global showpiece. There, Sarina Bolden scored her nation’s first-ever World Cup goal on the way to a maiden World Cup win over New Zealand in Wellington.
Much has changed for the Filipinas since then. Stajcic has departed and been replaced by another Australian in Mark Torcaso, who oversaw their triumph in Chonburi. Several members of the squad have come and gone, while Bolden has been targeting a return for the Asian Cup after an ACL injury suffered last April. Long-time team benefactor Jefferson Cheng departed in 2024, and there’s a constant push for greater resourcing and support. But defender Angie Beard, currently on the books of Brisbane Roar in the A-League Women, believes the side has gone to a higher level.
“The turnover that we had after the World Cup, whether it’s staff or players, was so substantial, it’s crazy to think about,” Beard, one of the few players still with their clubs and not taking part in a pre-tournament camp in the Philippines, told ESPN in an exclusive interview. “But bringing in, whether it’s the younger girls, where there’s new recruitment. Whether its players who were able to secure overseas professional contracts for the first time in a long time, a lot of our girls are now in high-level college, high-level semi-pro or, like myself, in professional teams. I think that’s something that is hopefully going to bring this team to higher levels.
“[The SEA Games] was such a big showcase for us. We’re playing against amazing teams, with teams like Vietnam, who are in this next Asian Cup, and playing against teams with high quality and comparing ourselves, fixing things and finding out what our strengths and weaknesses are. Having a tournament like that right before the Asian Cup was incredibly valuable.
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“Our run in that tournament, we lost the first match with definitely our worst performance [a 2-1 loss to Myanmar], but then we’re backing it up. We beat the reigning champs, Vietnam, we put in [six goals] in our next match [against Malaysia], and then leading into the semifinal and the final, it almost looks like just an upward trajectory throughout that whole tournament.
“I really believe that if we continue to stay locked in, we stay focused on our systems and our philosophy of play, I really do think that if we just keep the momentum, this Asian Cup can be something that is a really, really good opportunity for us and to create history again. It’d be the second consecutive World Cup, that’s something the Philippines men women have never accomplished. So that would be completely unreal.”
Drawn in Group A for this year’s Women’s Asian Cup, the Philippines will open the tournament against Australia in Perth on March 1, before shifting across to Queensland for games against South Korea and Iran in the following days. They will need to finish in the top two of the group or as one of the two-best third-placed finishers from the three groups to advance to the quarterfinals, which will also serve to punch their tickets to the qualifiers for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
For one last time before the AFC shifts to staging dedicated qualifiers, a victory in the last eight would serve to secure progression to a second-straight Women’s World Cup, while a loss would see them instead moved into a mini-tournament with their other quarterfinal losers, with two more spots at Brazil 2027 up for grabs, with the losers from those games moving into inter-confederation playoffs.
Fresh from winning the SEA Games gold medal, the Philippines have good reason to ‘not fear anyone’ at this year’s Women’s Asian Cup. Mark Fredesjed Cristino/Getty Images
Making it to the knockouts, however, will be easier said than done. It was the Taegeuk Nangja who defeated the Philippines in the semifinals of the last Women’s Asian Cup, while the Matildas, playing on home soil, will likely face any nation not named Japan as favourites. Indeed, the last time the Filipinas met Australia in Perth came in Olympic qualifiers for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where Torcaso’s side suffered an 8-0 defeat.
“My personal opinion, I do believe that the last game against Australia just sticks out like a sore thumb,” said Beard. “It’s just the absolute opposite of what this team stands for. This team has the identity of being strong in defence, compact, organised, hard to break down, and I feel like that was not displayed or showcased to the best of our abilities at all.
“I know what this team is capable of, the fans do, the coaching staff do. The players know what this team is capable of. So that last outing is definitely not something that we’re proud of or expecting again.
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“I’m not sure how many times that the Philippines have played Australia or the U.S. or Spain or any of these big teams, but when you play against players that are your idols, or the best in the world, or you see the name of the back of the jersey, when you show them too much respect and you limit yourself … it’s such a disservice to yourself to not rise to the absolute best of your capabilities because of who you’re playing.
“Me personally, you can put anyone in front of me, it’s at this point in my career, and I do not fear anyone. I do not care who is in front of me. I will always play 100%. I will always put in tackles that are to the best of my ability. And I think that if we can collectively do that as a unit, when we approach high-ranked teams, which are potentially more experienced, I think that’s a big key factor for us.”
Born in Queensland and herself a three-time Matilda, Beard made the switch to the land of her mother’s birth ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup — describing herself as “a different person” since making the switch.
“One thing about the Philippines is that they are so open and they’re so welcoming,” she warmly said. “And whether it was the players or the community or the country, I just felt so welcomed. For a lot of my life, I hadn’t really experienced that part of me, and my mum has so much family, so much history, so much culture back in the Philippines that I had never touched on. I fear that if I’d never been introduced to this opportunity, and never taken this opportunity with both hands, I would never have truly gotten to the core of who that side of me is.”
Now in the weeks ahead, Beard and her teammates will seek to grasp a new opportunity with both hands, and make more history for the Philippines.
