MANILA, Philippines — Philippine women's national football team head coach Alen Stajcic did not hold back his praise after the Filipinas eked out a shock 4-0 victory over erstwhile defending champions Vietnam in the AFF Women's Championship in their semifinal match at the Rizal Memorial Stadium on Friday.
An absolute masterclass and surprisingly dominant performance against their fellow World Cup-bound team, Stajcic expressed delight over the way his wards came out with the win.
"I think everyone who watched the game have seen what happened. That was probably our most complete performance," said Stajcic after the game.
"I've only been watching the Philippine women's team play for the last three or four years, but that was probably the best that this team has ever played," he added.
The numbers back Stajcic's sentiments as it was the first time ever that the Philippines beat Vietnam in program history. It was also the team's first time to qualify to a final in a tournament.
To make things even more impressive, the Philippines handed Vietnam their first loss to a Southeast Asian team since 2018. They were unbeaten in 26 matches before last night.
Still, Stajcic fell short of saying that his team has already matched Vietnam's level. More than the one-time beatdown, the Aussie mentor will look for consistency and will use their semifinal victory as a benchmark of what can happen when things go their way.
"It's a great performance, it's a laymark in terms of beating probably the best team in Southeast Asia," said Stajcic.
"I still think they're the best team, even though we beat them tonight. We still got a long way to go to overtake them. You don't beat them once and you think you're the best. But tonight I think we fully deserved the win. To be honest, I thought we could've beaten them by a few more," he continued.
Stajcic and the Filipinas stand to make history once more in the final on Sunday where they face group stage tormentors Thailand.
After an unfortunate 0-1 loss to Thailand in their final game in group play, Stajcic is eyeing a win in the grudge match for all the marbles.
"We're looking forward to the final and really see if we can take a little bit of revenge out on Thailand after they beat us the other night," he said.