Coach Rafa Merino felt scoring the first two goals caught the Philippine women’s futsal team off-guard in the 3-2 loss to Morocco that eliminated them from quarterfinal contention in the Fifa Futsal Women’s World Cup.
The Filipina5 went into a dream start in the first seven minutes as Inday Tolentin and Cathrine Graversen scored to the delight of 1,771 fans at Philsports Arena in Pasig City on Monday night.
But Morocco answered with three straight goals, all before the break, that left the hosts to search for an equalizer the rest of the way.
‘I think that scoring two goals in such a short period of time surprised us a bit, and it took us out of the game plan that we had,’ Merino said through an interpreter.
‘I think it confused us a bit [because] we don’t have enough experience to handle this type of scenario.’
Morocco won to stay alive in the competition, while a second successive defeat sent the Philippines wrapping up its campaign on Thursday against powerhouse Argentina.
Merino and the Filipina5, despite the huge odds against them, will try to put up a competitive showing despite their predicament.
‘We are in the World Cup, and we are at home. So I don’t think there is any bigger motivation than that,’ the Spanish-born coach said.