“How can you do that? Beat the home team in the World Cup. My tears mixed with the tears of the players wet my face,” coach Alen Stajcic said emotional after the match and took advantage of wiping tears.
Coach Alen Stajcic hugged the Filipino players and burst into tears after the historic victory in the 2023 World Cup
Before the historic match of Philippine football in both men’s and women’s football at the World Cup, coach Alen Stajcic vowed to “ruin the party” of the home team New Zealand, which was still in high spirits after a surprise victory over Norway 1-0. While, the Philippine women’s team is considered young, was defeated by the Swiss team with a score of 0-2.
“Few people believe the words of coach Alen Stajcic to come true. However, the Philippine women’s team has done a great job with brave play”, page News.com.au written by Australia.
The moment to celebrate the historic victory of the Philippines women’s team at the 2023 World Cup
“In 2019, coach Alen Stajcic was suddenly fired by the Australian women’s team, even though he was the one who discovered and developed many excellent stars such as Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord and Ellie Carpenter into the famous international players they are today. The 49-year-old leader’s career seemed to have gone downhill after unsuccessfully leading the Central Coast Mariners Club in the Philippines. when helping the Southeast Asian team get a place in the World Cup for the first time and have the first victory in history in the world football arena”, page News.com.au write more.
Coach Alen Stajcic (2nd from right) made history with the Philippine women’s team
The only goal of striker Sarina Bolden scored in the 24th minute after a beautiful header, and a brave second half with goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel playing well, helped the Philippines women’s team stand up to the intense pressure of the home team New Zealand to win 1-0.
“I can’t believe what we have achieved. It shows that it is possible to do something great,” said midfielder Sara Eggesvik of the Philippines women’s team with tears in her eyes.
Striker Sarina Bolden (7) becomes the hero of Philippine football
Meanwhile, disappointment enveloped the New Zealand women’s team. “We were completely devastated. We played to win and things didn’t go as we wanted. We fought until the last minute, but it wasn’t enough,” New Zealand women’s coach Jitka Klimkova said sadly.
The situation in Group A before the final turn will be dramatic, when the four teams are still hoping to advance to the round of 16 of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, with Switzerland meeting New Zealand and Norway meeting the Philippines both taking place at 2pm on July 30. Currently, the Swiss team leads the group with 4 points, the co-host New Zealand (3 points) despite losing to the Philippines 0-1 is still ranked 2nd thanks to the difference (0 vs -1). Norway is at the bottom of the table with only 1 point and a difference of -1.