MANILA – Sarina Bolden broke the hearts of thousands of Kiwis as she steered the Filipinas to a historic, stunning 1-0 victory over New Zealand in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup on Tuesday at the Wellington Regional Stadium in New Zealand.
The Filipina-American midfielder converted the back breaking header at the 23rd minute as the national women’s football team registered their first-ever win in their first appearance in the world stage.
From a free kick, Filipinas’ Sara Eggesvik slotted the ball towards the direction of Bolden, who jumped on two New Zealand defenders to head the ball to the target.
But Bolden’s connection was not without drama as it first landed on the hands of New Zealand goal keeper Victoria Esson before she mishandled it to give the Filipinas a 1-0 advantage.
That conversion of Bolden pumped the life to the Filipinas. They became aggressive on the defensive end but could not add on to the advantage for a 1-0 halftime edge.
With the homecourt pressure on them, New Zealand were the aggressors early in the second half. They dominated most of the possessions but Filipinas keeper Olivia McDaniel stood on the defensive end to thwart all the attacks.
New Zealand thought they have already equalized the match at the 65th minute after a Jacqui Hand header but it was ruled as an offside after a review with the video assistance referee (VAR).
Late in the contest, the Filipinas nearly doubled the advantage with Carleigh Frilles slotting the ball against Esson but the referee on the side raised her flag for offside.
McDaniel’s defense was tested for the last time at the final minutes of extension after a kick by New Zealand’s Grace Jale but the Filipinas keeper was at the right place at the right time to prevent the connection.
With the historic victory, the Alen Stajcic-mentored Filipinas moved up to third place in the Group A standings with three points on one win and a loss, a 2-0 beating from Switzerland last Friday.
The national women’s football team had a chance to reach the round-of-16 of the competition when they face Norway on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m., Philippine time) at Dunedin./PN
