Pasig city: The Philippines' futsal team suffered a narrow 2-3 defeat against Morocco on Monday night, but celebrated a significant achievement by scoring their first-ever goals in the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup at the PhilSports Complex.

According to Philippines News Agency, Inday Tolentin and Cathrine Graversen were the standout players, each scoring milestone goals in the prestigious 16-nation tournament, which has the backing of the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Football Federation. Tolentin scored from a free kick less than four minutes into the Group A match, and Graversen added another goal three minutes later, electrifying the home crowd.

Despite their early lead, the Filipina5 couldn't maintain momentum, allowing the Atlas Lionesses to secure a crucial victory. This win keeps Morocco in the running for a quarterfinal spot with three points, having a 1-1 win-loss record. For the Philippines, the loss follows a 0-6 defeat to Poland, effectively ending their chances of advancing, with only one match left against the already quarterfinals-bound Argentina on Thursday.

Graversen expressed her excitement in a news release, stating, "It's a World Cup, right, everybody wants to score so for me it's a dream come true. To do it on your home court makes it more exciting and crazy. The atmosphere was just wild." She also highlighted the team's resilience, as they continued to fight despite conceding three consecutive goals to Morocco's Nadia Laftah, Siiham Tadlaoui, and Jasmine Demraoui in the 10th, 14th, and 17th minutes, respectively.

"We created a lot of opportunities and we gave it our all. That's all you can ask for, basically," Graversen added. "And we fought until the very last minute."