NIMBLE-FOOTED midfielder Katrina Guillou scored a hat-trick yesterday as the Philippines routed Fiji 7-0 and completed a sweep of their two-match goodwill series at the Western Sydney Wanderers Football Park in Sydney, Australia.
A mainstay of top Swedish club Pitea IF, Guillou found herself in the thick of the fray often and scored in the 26th, 31st and 55th minutes in starring for the World Cup-bound Filipinas, who are gearing up for the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games opening in the capital of Hanoi on May 12.
Coming off the bench in the second half to score a brace with goals in the 49th and 91st minutes was striker Carleigh Frilles, who celebrated her 20th birthday, while teammates Sophia Harrison (10th), Quinley Quezada (36th) and Isabella Flanagan (61st) were the other scorers in the lopsided match.
The charges of coach Alen Stajcic also beat Fiji 7-2 last week amid heavy downpour in their first tune-up game since clinching a historic spot to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup with their semis finish in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India last February.
The Filipinas are expected to have more tune-up games in the city famed for its Opera House overlooking Sydney harbor before heading for the Vietnam SEA Games where they are bracketed in Group A with defending women’s football champion Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia.
