By Ashley Bercasio
The past six months has been nothing but a whirlwind for Philippine women’s national football team captain Tahnai Annis.
A member of the national squad since 2018, the 33-year-old midfielder saw the rise of the lady footballers under the tutelage of former Australian women’s football team head coach Alen Stajcic.
The Filipinas made history in January 2022 when they reached the semifinals of the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup and booked a ticket to the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
It was the Philippines’ first-ever inclusion in the world’s most prestigious football competition.
Four months later, the Filipinas broke the country’s 37-year medal drought in the Southeast Asian Games’ women’s football after winning bronze off a 2-1 victory against Myanmar.
The Filipinas continued making history by capturing its first international championship after ruling the 2022 AFF Women’s Championship.
The Filipinas blanked Thailand in the finals, 3-0, and also recorded impressive victories over Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia in the process.
“It’s a great way to see where we’ve come after the last seven to nine months of really putting in a lot of hard work and seen the benefits of all our hard work pay off,” Annis said in an interview with PTV Sports’ Champ de Lunas.
Like Stajcic, Annis also hopes that the Filipinas’ title romp would serve as some kind of launch pad for Philippine football.
“I hope it just continues to grow the sport in the country,” remarked Annis.
“I think this win is probably bigger than we can probably wrap our heads around. I think the effects of it will be bigger than we know. I think it will be great for the country, great for the sport and obviously, it’s a really wonderful win for our team and for our organization moving forward.”
The win also reminded Annis how it felt to be a part of the national squad that got the Philippines’ its first World Cup appearance.
“Similar in the way that it feels pretty surreal to get a win like that, but obviously, they’re both really great wins and I think this one is really awesome,” Annis said. — gb
