The Philippines' Sarina Bolden (left) celebrates with her teammates after scoring the winner against New Zealand on Tuesday. - The Straits Times/ANN
WELLINGTON: Philippines coach Alen Stajcic was filled with pride after witnessing the nation win a World Cup match for the first time as his team stunned co-hosts New Zealand 1-0 in the Women’s World Cup on Tuesday.
He even likened the victory to national hero and legendary boxer Manny Pacquiao’s achievements.
“To think we’ve done it in our second match at our first World Cup, you can’t really appreciate how far we’ve come,” the Australian said.
“It’s pretty raw. It was very emotional out on the pitch. Just seeing just about everyone, every staff member, every player crying.
“In the history of Philippines team sport, I don’t know if there has been a bigger win. Obviously Pacquiao individually but for team sport, it would have to be one of the best achievements in the history of the country.
“It’s just a special moment.”
Stajcic had said on the eve of the match that his side wanted to “crash the party”, and they did just that with their gutsy victory in front of 32,357 fans in Wellington.
Sarina Bolden scored the only goal with a header in the first half for a famous Philippine win – the country’s first at either a men’s or women’s World Cup. It also blows Group A wide open.
The Philippines, who lost 2-0 to Switzerland on their World Cup debut, face Norway on Sunday in the final round of group games. New Zealand clash with Switzerland on the same day with everything to play for.
As it stands, the Swiss lead the group on four points after they drew 0-0 with the Norwegians, also on Tuesday. New Zealand and the Philippines have three points each and Norway have just one.
“I can’t believe what we have achieved,” said tearful Philippines midfielder Sara Eggesvik.
“It shows that it’s possible to do something big.”
Philippines goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel, who won the player of the match award, added: “It means everything to us. I think we really put our head down and we knew what was coming at us tonight.”
New Zealand did not lack in effort but had seemingly lost the magic touch of their historic 1-0 opening win over Norway and missed a series of scoring opportunities.
Bolden’s goal was a scrappy one, but the Philippines would not be bothered.
After the Football Ferns conceded a free kick, Bolden out-jumped the home defence to head the ball at goalkeeper Victoria Esson, who could only watch in horror as her attempted parry looped over her into the net.
“It was so heartbreaking for everyone in this team, I could see tears in my players’ eyes,” said New Zealand’s Czech coach Jitka Klimkova.
“I know how much it means to play in front of their family and friends. We were fighting until the end, but it wasn’t enough.
“But it’s not over yet. We still have one game to go. We still have time to reset and refocus before the game against Switzerland.”
She added that her team must recapture their grit following their crushing blow.
“This sport,” Klimkova said with a heavy sigh. “Five days ago we were celebrating and we were so excited. Today we didn’t get what we wanted and played for.
“The grit I think was something that was more seen in the game against Norway. The physicality, how we were against Norway, was a little bit different today.”
She has five days to prepare her players for their final Group A match in Dunedin, during which she plans to refocus their effort on fine-tuning their attack.
“There was a lot of unforced turnovers that I hadn’t seen in the game against Norway... the execution today was not excellent,” she added. - AFP / REUTERS
