Filipinas fall to Costa Rica in second friendly match
The Philippine women's football team absorbed a 2-1 loss at the hands of a steady Costa Rican side as the Filipinas conceded two goals in the second half, capping their two-part friendly matches Tuesday, Oct. 11 (early Wednesday morning in Manila) at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in San Jose.
Costa Rica surged back and came alive in the final 45 minutes behind the two goals from Raquel Rodriguez and Gloriana Villalobos to settle their business with the Filipinas after listing a 1-1 draw in their first match last Oct. 8.
Carleigh Frilles put the Philippines on the scoreboard after finding the back of the net off a through ball from Bella Flanigan.
Flanigan swiftly set up Frilles in transition as the latter zoomed past three defenders before beating Costa Rican goalkeeper Daniela Solera en route to a 1-0 in the 46th-minute mark.
Come the second half though, the Filipina booters squandered their early lead after Rodriguez fired the equalizer, this time defeating Olivia McDaniel on the penalty kick at the 60th mark as the Filipinas' goalkeeper couldn't react just in time.
Just six minutes later before Costa Rica's first goal, a more confident Rodriguez had another clear shot but her attempt went too wide.
But Villalobos' heroics came in shortly after Rodriguez's attempt as the midfielder found the back of the net from afar.
Villalobos was left alone in the far left wing outside the box and kicked the ball beautifully heading into the top right corner of the post as Costa Rica heaved a sigh of relief with a 2-1 gap.
The Filipinas desperately tried to go for another equalizer, a play they pulled off in the first friendly after Katrina Guillou's late goal in the extension.
But the Costa Ricans clamped down on their defense and made sure not to repeat the same mistake again even as Jessika Cowart tried to salvage a draw for the Filipinas but Solera deflected the shot and secured the ball in the last 10 minutes before the added time.
That proved to be the last clean attempt for the Filipinas, who have wrapped up their training camp in Central America in preparation for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.