By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
HOSTED the games of some of the top young women football players in the land that made up the team that represented the country in the first round of the 2020 Olympic Football Asian Qualifiers recently in Tajikistan, the Manila Jockey Club (MJC) said it is very happy to have done its part in helping hone the team and joins the whole nation in praising the squad’s efforts.
With the Philippine Football Federation Artificial Turf in Carmona, Cavite, which the Manila Jockey Club is administering, serving as home to the PFF Women’s League, it allowed some members of the Philippine Malditas to be in midseason shape for months leading up to the games in Tajikistan.
This year marked the second straight year that the PFF organized the league, designed to lift the women’s game in the country.
Ten teams participated in the round-robin format, including all five University Athletic Association of the Philippines squads.
Joining them were Green Archers United, Outkast, and Hiraya. De La Salle Zobel’s high school women booters joined for the first time this year, as did Tuloy Foundation, which impressed with a fourth place finish.
From these team came members of the Malditas, who successful booked a spot in the second round of the qualifiers next year after winning three of four matches.
The Pinays overwhelmed Singapore 9-0, came from behind to beat the host Tajikistan, 3-1, and then throttled Mongolia, 5-1. The team succumbed to an excellent Chinese Taipei team, 5-0, in their last assignment, but by then the team had already done enough to reach the next stage.
UST’s Shelah Mae Cadag was the breakout player for the Philippines with hat tricks against Singapore and Mongolia. Only Chinese Taipei’s Yu Hsiu-chin, with 10 strikes, has more than Cadag’s seven in this qualifying phase.
Sara Castañeda, Hali Long, and Irish Navaja were three other Pinays scoring three goals during the qualifiers.
Aside from Long, Patrice Impelido, and Patricia Tomanon, the squad is Philippine-born and raised, a testament to the rising quality of women’s football in the Philippines.
“We congratulate our women’s team on their remarkable achievement. And we are so proud to play a small but important role in raising the standard of women’s football in the country,” said Eduardo Ramirez de Arellano, Vice-President for Marketing of Manila Jockey Club.
“We look forward to playing host for the league again next year, and we would love to have more women’s football events on our pitch,” added Mr. Ramirez de Arellano.

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