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Philippines beat Thailand in final to claim historic AFF Women's Championship title

Philippines have won a first-ever AFF Women's Championship after an emphatic 3-0 win over record four-time champions Thailand in Sunday's final at Rizal Memorial Stadium. Philippine Football Federation

Philippines have won the AFF Women's Championship for the first time after claiming the 2022 edition with an emphatic 3-0 triumph over Thailand in the final at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

In what has proven to be a historic campaign for Philippines, Alen Stajcic's charges had already made history by reaching the decider for the first time ever after a stunning 4-0 win over defending champions Vietnam on Friday.

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And they duly went one better on Sunday in front of their raucous home support, who were given plenty to cheer from the moment their Jessika Cowart climbed highest to head home a Tahnai Annis corner and give the Filipinas the lead after just seven minutes.

As the tournament's record four-time champions, Thailand were far from out of the contest despite falling behind -- although they just found no answer to the endeavour shown by their spirited opponents, which forced them into some uncharacteristic hesitancy.

In the 20th minute, the Thais failure to fully clear their lines from a set-piece situation eventually saw Jaclyn Sawicki force the ball back into the six-yard box, where Katrina Guillou was on hand to send a deft first-time finish into the bottom corner.

From there on, the Filipinas were always in control of proceedings but they refused to take their foot off the pedal and went on grab a third for the icing on the cake with a minute remaining, as star forward Sarina Bolden showed the greatest determination to meet Sara Eggesvik's corner and send a close-range header into the back of the net to seal the victory.

A maiden AFF title for Philippines adds to what is already proving to be a groundbreaking 2022, with the Filipinas having qualified for a maiden FIFA Women's World Cup appearance next year back in February after memorably reaching the semifinals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup before losing to South Korea.