the games to host women's football. The team clinched its first podium finish in a tournament by finishing in third place. However, the football event of the tournament was only contested by two other teams, Thailand and Singapore, with the Philippines not winning a single match. 2000s Marlon Maro, a former defender for the Philippines men's national team, coached the women's national football team as early as 2001 when he guided the national team through the 2001 Southeast Asian Games. He was head coach of the national team until 2007, coaching the Malditas for the last time at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games. 2010s The Philippines national team participated at the 2011 AFF Women's Championship in Laos on October 16–25, after being inactive for the last 21 months. The national team participated in a training camp in the United States in 2012. The team management scouted for players with Filipino heritage in the United States for the national team. Part of the training camp was participation in the 2012 LA Viking Cup, which saw the national team play against American club sides California Cosmos, Metro Stars, and Leon. The Malditas won the tournament by beating the California Cosmos in the final 4–3 on extra time following a 1–1 draw, earning the team their first-ever trophy, albeit in a minor tournament. The national team attempted to qualify for the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup. The Philippines was grouped with Bangladesh, Iran and Thailand at the qualifiers single group stage with the winner advancing to the Asian Cup finals. The Malditas fell short of qualifying after losing to eventual group winners Thailand by a single goal despite winning convincingly over its other group opponents, Iran and Bangladesh. At the 2013 AFF Women's Championship, the Philippines was grouped with Laos, Indonesia, hosts Myanmar, and the Japan under-23 team, who were invited to the tournament. The Philippines failed to proceed to the knockout stage after placing third in the group, with only the top two teams proceeding to the next phase of the tournament. The Malditas lost to Japan U23 and Myanmar and won against the other two teams. At the 2013 Southeast Asian Games, the women's national football team failed to get past the group stage, losing against the two other nations grouped with the country and failing to score a single goal. In February 2015, PFF general secretary Ed Gastanes said that