Malditas gear up for ASEAN meet

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Malditas seek to sustain their gains from their Women’s Asian Cup stint as they set out for glory in another international front, the Asean Football Federation Women’s Championship slated June 30-July 13 in Palembang, Indonesia.

Letecia “Buda” Bautista, who was shortlisted for the Coach of the Year by the Asian Football Confederation in 2017, returns to the helm as the Malditas prepare for the tourney, where they are bracketed with fellow WAC participant Vietnam, Myanmar, host Indonesia, and Singapore in Group B. 

Bautista led the team to a successful campaign in the WAC Qualifiers but didn’t call the shots for Ph XI in the actual competition in Jordan, where the Pinay booters fell short of a fifth place finish that would qualified them to the Fifa Women’s World Cup. 

Phl upset the host Jordan, 2-1, but bowed to China, 0-3 and Thailand, 1-3, to miss out on the semis. They had another crack at the world meet but conceded a 0-5 defeat to Korea in fifth in the dispute for the last ticket to France.