MANILA – After breaking the ice with a historic 1-0 beating of host New Zealand, Filipinas star Sarina Bolden believes that anything is now possible for her team in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
According to Bolden, who holds the distinction of the first Philippine player to score in the FIFA World Cup stage, the upset win over the Kiwis gave them motivation to win more in the tournament.
Coming up for the Alen Stajcic-mentored national women’s football team is the no.12 ranked Norway on Sunday afternoon (Philippine time) at the Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
An upset victory by the Filipinas against the Norway team will allow them to finish at second place in Group A and barge to the round-of-16 of the competition to be held next week.
“Absolutely. I think anything is possible for us, for sure,” said the 27-year-old forward, whose game-winning penalty kick last January 2022 clinched the FIFA World Cup spot for the Filipinas.
“It’s a lot of feelings right now. We put a lot of work into this and almost two years of sacrifice, commitment, dedication, work. Been a lot of ups, been a lot of downs to be able to achieve this goal of ours, to get a win, to score,” she added.
Since earning a qualification early last year, the Filipinas set up training camps in Sydney, Australia as well as in Auckland and Wellington while also joining a number of international tournaments.
Olivia McDaniel, who solidified the Filipinas win over New Zealand with her timely saves, said that she hopes that the historic win will not be the last for the squad in the month-long competition.
“It is amazing (winning over New Zealand) but hopefully this is not the last accolade we will win,” she added. “Hopefully we will win more and get the World Cup trophy in the end.”
The national women’s football team’s upcoming match against Norway at 3 pm on Sunday can be seen live via Cignal TV’s newest sports application Pilipinas Live and will also be shown live on free television via One Sports channel./PN
