The Philippine team was off to an auspicious start in the AFC Women's Futsal Asian Cup qualifiers with a 4-1 victory over Kuwait on Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Yunusobod Sport Complex in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Katrina Guillou, one of the pillars of the Filipinas team that saw action in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, scored a brace to set the tone for the Nationals who now have the chance for an even more impressive start when they take on host Uzbekistan on Monday, Jan. 12.

Guillou actually opened the scoring for the Nationals with a goal off a rebound play two minutes into the match before the rest of Filipinas followed through with Bella Flanigan and Dionesa Tolentin securing two more goals for the team headed by new coach Rafa Merino.

Flanigan scored the second goal for the Philippines at the 22nd minute mark before Tolentino made it to a commanding 3-0 lead for the country with another goal at the 27th minute.

Kuwait got into the scoreboard with a strike from Shrouq Mohammad at the 35th minute but Guillou put on the finishing touches with a goal at the 38th minute mark.

The victory provided a bright side to the national team program marred by involving the Philippine Football Federation and the Henry V. Moran Foundation – a benefactor of the sport in the country – following the reassignment of former coach Vic Hermans.

Still, the controversy hardly affected the team’s campaign which now has the chance to further boost its bid for top 2 spots in Group C and formally qualify in the Asian Cup set on May 7 to 18 in China.

As it stands, the Filipinas are in tie with Australia with three points each although the Philippines has an inferior goal differential with the Australian’s boasting a plus-5 against the Nationals’ only plus-3.