The Philippines suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of a more experienced Switzerland in the opening match of the Filipinas’ maiden FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance, here in Dunedin, New Zealand.
An emotional Philippine side went out of the tunnel for its first ever FIFA World Cup match, and there was not a dry eye in the Philippine side as the national anthem was sung.
Coach Alen Stajcic selected a strong starting eleven, with former Matilda Angie Beard making her debut in an initial back five for the Philippines.
Forward Sarina Bolden is the woman to watch for the Filipinas, but it was the wily Katrina Guillou who sent the predominantly Philippine crowd into raptures with a well taken breakaway goal in the early stages, only for the goal to be ruled offside.
Up until that point, the much lower ranked Philippines went toe-to-toe with a 20th ranked Switzerland team who may have also been suffering from first game jitters early on.
However, once the game wore on, the Swiss team showed their quality as they slowly imposed their will on the game with Ramona Bachmann and Ana Crnogorcevic particularly dangerous up front.
It was all set to go goalless at half-time, but for a penalty awarded by VAR against Philippines defender Jessika Cowart. In real time, it seemed very much like a 50-50 decision, but the referee chose to award the penalty, which Bachmann would not miss, giving the Swiss a 1-0 lead going to the break.
On the penalty call, Coach Alen Stajcic said: “The penalty was a close call, but no doubt they were the better team.”
Switzerland would come out of the second half gates on fire, as they pinned back the Philippines for most of the second half, with the Filipinas looking disjointed and relying on high balls to create chances.
Olivia McDaniel was one of the standout performers for the team, and she made a superb double save in the 64th minute, but could not stop Sarina Piubel at the third attempt from scoring the second Swiss goal.
Angie Beard was phenomenal in her debut for the country, slotting from left back to centre back with ease, aside from taking free kick duties for the team.
Captain Hali Long was once again immense for the country, coming up with timely interceptions while leading from the back.
Despite the loss, these performances are the positives that the Philippines must take ahead of the crucial match against New Zealand.
Coming into the World Cup, it was always going to be tough for the Philippines to get out of the group, but with this loss, the job got that much more difficult.
The good news is that the first game – and first ever tournament – jitters and nerves are out of the way and the team can now channel that energy into efforts on the field.
The Philippines will play New Zealand next, and will have to contend with an expected pro-New Zealand crowd in Wellington but will most definitely be buoyed by an anticipated Filipino participation in the audience, much like what happened in Dunedin.
Bucking the cold winter weather and long travel, scores of Filipino fans and family made the trip to Otago to support the team, something that Coach Alen Stajcic is very much appreciative about.
“For the players to feel that energy and emotion is almost surreal,” he said.
“We can see the emotion inside of them when they are playing and carry all the hopes of everyone who’s following them so I can’t thank the supporters enough for the way they come out and support us wherever we’ve been around the world, particularly the numbers in the south of New Zealand.”
“It’s really special, but particularly for the players.”
The next game against New Zealand will be a make-or-break game for the country, as a defeat will put the team out of contention for progression to the next round.
But the Filipinas will be greatly encouraged with the performance against New Zealand in a previous friendly, where a 1-0 halftime lead was only overturned by very late goals from the Football Ferns.
Resiliency and a never-say-die attitude were some of the traits that propelled the Philippines this far, and all will be needed in great abundance on July 25 against the hosts in Wellington, where hopes will again spring eternal for the Philippines.
Listen to The Asian Game Podcast as we recap Day 2 of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023
