Just six days after Philippines began a first title defence at any level across Southeast Asian football, it has ended.
With a 1-1 draw against Myanmar on Wednesday, the Filipinas have been eliminated in the group stage of the ASEAN Women's Championship -- officially known as the ASEAN MSIG Serenity Cup 2025.
After Myanmar had taken the lead at Lạch Tray Stadium through a Win Theingi Tun penalty in the 33rd minute, Nina Mathelus' 71st-minute equaliser set up a grandstand finish but -- with neither able to find a winner despite their best efforts -- both had to settle for a share of the spoils.
It was a solitary point that Myanmar knew would be enough to seal top spot in Group A. Following earlier victories over Australia U-23 and Timor-Leste, Myanmar would hardly be bothered by their perfect record coming to an end -- not when it was against the reigning champions.
They have got the first part of the job done in advancing to a semifinal meeting with Thailand on Saturday.
Philippines cannot say the same for their efforts.
After an emphatic 7-0 rout of Timor-Leste in their campaign opener, a shock 2-1 loss to the Australians at the weekend sent them crashing back down to earth.
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All of a sudden, their hopes of retaining their crown were in serious jeopardy as they headed into Wednesday's contest knowing they had to beat Myanmar to give themselves any realistic chance of advancing.
Even though Myanmar deserve credit for their spirited display, it was a game Philippines -- given their newfound status as powerhouses in Southeast Asian football -- should have won.
Especially when they have gone on to achieve bigger and better things such as reaching the semifinals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup, which led to a FIFA Women's World Cup debut where they even notched a victory.
Granted, the Filipinas were missing some very prominent key personnel at this ASEAN Women's Championship but they would have been expecting to go further.
A meek group-stage exit will hurt yet perhaps it will also provide some valuable lessons.
First is the fact that it is a completely different proposition being the hunted.
Three years ago, when they were the hunters, they lifted their game each time they took on one of the established order.
They would upset the then-defending champions Vietnam with a stunning 4-0 win in the semis. Having suffered a group-stage loss to Thailand, Philippines raised their game even more to win the title with an equally-impressive 3-0 victory over the record four-time winners in the decider.
Now that they were the ones to beat, their opponents -- whether consciously or not -- were always going to be up for the challenge.
There was no better example than in their loss to Australia U-23, who rebounded from a disappointing opening loss to Myanmar to match -- and even better -- the top dogs.
That, and the added pressure that comes with being the title holders, is something teams who want to truly be perennial contenders will have to cope with.
Then, there is also the second lesson that, regardless of how many key personnel are missing, tournament time is never the right time to start tinkering -- especially when there is an expectation to go far.
Philippines' emphatic start to the campaign -- albeit against the group's weakest team -- was driven by an expansive 3-4-2-1 system brimming with fluidity and tempo.
Their troubles began in the next game when coach Mark Torcaso decided to switch things up. Not only did he change to a 4-4-2 formation, players were shuffled into completely different roles and parts of the field.
On Wednesday, he stuck to his guns -- not only with the 4-4-2 but also with the rearranging of his pieces.
Aaliyah Schinaman, who impressed against Timor-Leste at left-back, returned to the starting XI but on the right side of defence. It meant that Janae DeFazio went from right-back to central defence, which is admittedly a position she is equally comfortable at.
Malea Cesar, who was one of Philippines' better performers against the Australians, was dropped as Isabella Alamo came in for her first start of the campaign.
And while the dynamic Dionesa Tolentin returned to the starting XI, she had to hold the width down the right of midfield when she had excelled against Timor-Leste as one of the two No. 10s who constantly drifted out of position in search of pockets of space to exploit.
Of course, this is all with the benefit of hindsight.
Had Philippines got the result they needed, Torcaso's tactics would be strokes of genius.
And he only has to look at the four teams that are through to the semis to see what might have worked.
Thailand fielded the same starting XI in all three matches. Myanmar, in their two toughest games against the Australia and Philippines, had just one different player in the lineup.
After finding out a lot about his side in both the loss to Myanmar and the win against Philippines, the team that Australia U-23 coach Joe Palatsides started against Timor-Leste was arguably primarily made up of the best performers across those outings -- and perhaps largely the strongest XI he will now settle on moving forward.
The other semifinalists that have actively rotated is Vietnam but then, they are a completely different proposition.
The Vietnamese are at their strongest. Their 23-player squad boasts an average of 48 caps and that includes two that were yet to make their senior international debut.
They have nine players with over 50 caps -- including two centurions in Huỳnh Như and Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Dung -- who, along with Phạm Hải Yến are three of their four all-time top scorers.
Vietnam regularly rotate simply because they can.
Whether it was wise for Philippines, with an average of 18 caps per player, to do the same is debatable.
Unless Torcaso now says that this tournament was for experience and to blood some up-and-coming prospects, then this would have been valuable exposure for the future.
Given it does seem like the goal was to retain their crown, it seems the main lessons the Filipinas now head home with are ones that come with plenty of disappointment.