HANGZHOU – The Philippine women’s football team is all geared up against Myanmar in a game they can’t afford to lose in the 19th Asian Games here.

The Filipinas and their rivals from Myanmar lock horns at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.at the Wenzhou Sports Center Stadium.

The winner of the Group E match will have a chance to advance into the quarterfinals depending on the results of the four other groups.

The Filipinas have split their first two matches here, beating Hong Kong, 3-1, and losing to the stronger South Korean squad, 5-1.

Team captain Hali Long said the team “is experiencing change” under new coach Mark Torcaso, who came in after the team saw action in the FIFA World Cup under Alen Stajcic.

“We just have to adjust. It’s a new system and it’s going to be a process and to go forward we have to go backwards and that’s okay. I just know that we worked hard in our last game,” she said.

“It (the game against South Korea) just shows how much more improvement we need to do. I’m not disappointed with the effort. But we have to regroup, recover and play even harder in the next game,” she added.

If the Filipinas prevail, they get the chance to advance with the five outright quarterfinalists and the three top teams among the survivors.

“Kailangan manalo against Myanmar. ‘Yun ang importante,” said Philippine Football Federation president Mariano Araneta.

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