Isabella Bandoja relished the feeling of scoring the Philippines’ only goal in the 5-1 loss to Argentina that concluded the host’s campaign in the Fifa Futsal Women’s World Cup on Thursday at Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Bandoja, a product of the Tuloy sa Don Bosco futsal and football program, came through in transition with 12 minutes to go in the match, which proved to be one of the silver linings in the Filipina5’s final appearance in the inaugural world competition.
‘It’s really special for me since it’s the World Cup which is a once in a lifetime experience,’ Bandoja said in Filipino. The score ignited a crowd of 2,811 who, in the early going,s were in disbelief after the Argentinians produced all of their goals in the opening seven minutes of the match that had nothing at stake for the Filipina5-except for pride.
But coach Rafa Merino’s side would atone for its woes, with tightened defending and some close calls from the likes of Regine Rebosura, Katrina Guillou and Bella Flanigan.
The Filipina5’s hard work paid off when Bandoja rushed back after a blocked attempt by Argentina’s Carina Nunez before firing a low right-footed shot past keeper Silvina Espinazo.
‘At the time when I had control of the ball, my focus was to just give my team at least one goal,’ said the 24-year-old, who had been a part of the futsal national team for the past few years.
Bandoja played in last year’s Asean Women’s Futsal Championship under then-coach Vic Hermans. She was eventually included in the pool by current mentor Rafa Merino in the months leading up to the World Cup.