What a night for Philippine football.
The Philippines earned a historic 1-0 victory over hosts New Zealand in Wellington to claim the country’s first ever victory in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Sarina Bolden scored the lone Philippine goal in the 24th minute and it was enough as the Filipinas became the first debuting team this year to notch a victory in this World Cup.
Coach Alen Stajcic started off with an unchanged starting eleven from the one that played Switzerland just a few days ago, but unlike the previous game the Philippines were pinned back from the onset as the Football Ferns went on the offensive from the get go.
A rowdy crowd was on hand to support New Zealand, and the hosts seemed to feed off the energy as a disjointed Philippines could barely string two passes together, with the visitors getting only 17 percent possession at one stage.
But in the 244th minute, the Philippines claimed a goal against the run of play, Sarina Bolden the first to the ball to head a goal off of a broken free kick sequence.
The goal seemed to energize and awaken the Philippines, as they started to impose themselves and grow into the game, with the team even flashing signs of swagger and panache.
New Zealand however, would not take things lying down and would continually cause problems for the team, especially on the left flank where the wingers would continually deliver dangerous balls into the box.
The Philippines’ defence will hold firm, however.
Led by Hali Long and the impressive Angie Beard, the defence would ward off wave after wave of New Zealand attacks but in truth, it took a total team effort to stem the Kiwi tide.
Jessika Cowart was superb in the defensive midfield position, with fullbacks Alicia Barker and Sofia Harrison adept in dealing with the opposing wingers.
After the Switzerland match, Filipino fans claimed that 79 percent of the Earth is covered by water, and the remaining area is covered by Jackie Sawicki and she again showed why as she helped keep things tight in midfield, forcing New Zealand to resort to balls over the top in an attempt to break the defensive wall.
But the player of the match has rightly gone to goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel. Composed and assured at the back, she dealt with many a cross from New Zealand with confidence, en route to giving the country’s first ever clean sheet.
New Zealand missed a golden chance when their shot hit the post in the 64th minute and thought they had equalised a few minutes later, only for VAR to rule the goal offside.
It seemed like for once, the football gods were smiling down on the Philippines, but the Filipinas were made to play out anxious moments leading up to the final whistle before finally securing this historic victory.
The team was also aided by a very vocal Philippine travelling fan contingent, who the players unanimously credit for giving them a big boost in a hostile environment.
Goal scorer Sarina Bolden says: “There were probably way more Kiwis than there were Filipino supporters, but at times, it didn’t matter. I thought we were at our home ground for a second. Just to hear the chants and just the overwhelming support and this is an amazing night for Filipino football and I’m just so happy to be a part of it.”
It was an emotional win for the Philippines, who were underdogs coming into the match. New Zealand, having beaten group favorites Norway to notch their first ever World Cup win, were riding high and were looking to seal a place in the next round with three points against the Philippines.
Instead, it is the Philippines who will now look to build on this momentum after this sensational victory, as they dare to dream to book a place in the knockout stages.
At the post-match press conference, Alen Stajcic gave huge credit to his players for the victory.
“The players gave everything they had and our hard work was enough to make us ride our luck and get our first win ever,” he said.
With the win, the team has put themselves in a position to move to the next round, and the wave of momentum that this victory has created has the Filipinas well and truly feeling confident that anything is possible.
First goal, first victory, first clean sheet.
No one from the Philippines now dares to put a ceiling to what this group of players can and will achieve.
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