Brisbane Roar defender Angela Beard has been instrumental as Australian coach Mark Torcaso steered the Philippines back to the World Cup.
Beard, a former Matilda, was arguably best on ground in Thursday's 2-0 Women's Asian Cup defeat of Uzbekistan that served as a qualifier for next year's showpiece in Brazil.
Former A-League Women's mentor Torcaso and his Australian staff pulled the strings as the Filipinas called the shots and - after a first half of near misses - converted with a quick-fire double on the Gold Coast.
Beard came close twice in the first half, the second of those a mistimed tap-in from close range that seemed a certain goal.
But the Queensland-born 28-year-old nailed her next, much tougher, chance - a sweetly-timed left footed volley from a curling cross - into the roof of the net to open the scoring after 47 minutes.
Teammate Jaclyn Sawicki then did well to redirect a header back across Uzbekistan goalkeeper Maftuna Jonimqulova and into the net five minutes later.
Those clinical efforts, both from pinpoint Jael-Marie Guy crosses, came after just one of their nine shots were on target in the first half.
Torcaso, the ALW coach of the year with Western United in 2022, was visibly frustrated on the bench by the side's wastefulness.
Their double-strike after the break was a source of relief though as the Philippines, who began their tournament with a 1-0 loss to finalists Australia, then had few issues holding out Uzbekistan's final swings.
They also lost to semi-finalists South Korea but beat Iran in the group stage to progress to the quarter-finals, where Japan cruised to a 7-0 win that sent the Philippines into a last-gasp World Cup qualifier.
Torcaso, who took over from former Matildas coach and fellow Australian Alen Stajcic, also led the side to gold at last year's South East Asian Games.
"It’s just another step in the right direction for Philippines women’s football and just shows that we belong on the world stage," Philippines captain Hali Long said.
