MANILA – The Philippine women’s football team stumbled in their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup debut after being beaten by Switzerland, 2-0, on Friday afternoon at the Forsythh Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand.
A penalty kick by Ramona Bachmann and a short range connection from Sereina Piubel served as the marginal goals for two-time FIFA World Cup qualifier Switzerland.
The Filipinas converted the first goal of the contest courtesy of Katrina Guillou at the 15th minute but it was ruled as an offside by the game officials a few minutes later.
Filipinas goal keeper Olivia McDaniel also showed her toughness on the defensive end in the first half as she thwarted at least three shots on goal from the Switzerland.
Jessica Cowart of the Philippines, however, was called for a foul at the 45th minute that led to the penalty kick connection of Bachmann and give the Swiss a 1-0 advantage at the half.
In the early part of the second half, the Filipinas struggled to get the possession against the dominant Switzerland with the ball possession mostly on their side of the court.
Switzerland was able to double the advantage at the 64th minute as Piubel connected with a right foot kick on her third try as her first two tries were foiled by the defense of McDaniel.
The Filipinas showed aggression at the latter part of the second half as they were able to gain ball possession several times but still could not create clear attack due to the defense of the Swiss.
The national women’s football team’s closest shot on the goal in the second half came at the 85th minute courtesy of a tough attempt from Sofia Harrison.
The Filipinas’ next game will be against host New Zealand on July 25 at 1:30 p.m. (Philippine time) in Wellington; and against Norway on July 30 at 3 p.m. (Philippine time) in Auckland.
Matches of the Filipinas 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
