MANILA – The Philippine women’s football team is upbeat of their chances against host New Zealand in their second game in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup this afternoon at the Sky Stadium in Wellington.
According to Filipinas head coach Alen Stajcic, his players showed that they belong to the competition after their gutsy stand in their 2-0 defeat to Switzerland on Friday afternoon.
“Despite the result, we have a lot of belief,” Stajcic said in an interview over the weekend. “We all knew that it was an amazing performance (by the Filipinas) for a debut in the World Cup.”
“There are so many people who may have questioned how nervous the team was going into the first game, and if they did belong and should be here,” he added. “But I think we showed that we belong at this level.”
“For a first effort in the World Cup, I really thought our players were amazing. Everyone back home in the Philippines and all their fans should be really proud of how they represented the country,” the Australia-based coach further said.
Stajcic pointed out that Filipinas showed great resolve and resiliency in hanging in there against a squad 20 ranks higher than them in the FIFA women’s world rankings at No. 26 in Switzerland.
“In the first 15 to 20 minutes of the game, I thought we were exceptional and (these) probably were the best moments for us,” Stajcic said. “It just shows how well we prepared as a team.”
With the lessons learned from the last match against the Swiss, the Filipinas continued to refine their play at their base camp training facility at the Olympic Park over the weekend before they flew to Wellington on the eve of their game against the hosts.
The last time Philippines and New Zealand faced each other, the latter emerged with a come-from-behind 2-1 win in a friendly game held at the Titans Stadium in Fullerton, California.
The game of Filipinas against New Zealand at 1:30 pm (Philippine time) 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
