Sarina Bolden scored the only goal as Philippines revived their chances of going through in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup with an upset of New Zealand in Wellington on Tuesday.
It was the tournament’s newcomers first- ever win at a global finals as Bolden etched her name into history as the Philippines secured a 1-0 win over co-hosts New Zealand.
The confident Kiwis started the match, looking for more history after their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup win against Norway in the tournament opener.
Instead it was the Filipinos who stunned the sold-out Wellington Regional Stadium when Bolden nodded home their maiden goal in the competition in the 24th minute.
It was the first goal by any team making its debut at the 2023 edition of the tournament.
The Football Ferns pushed hard for an equaliser, and an excellent cross from Hannah Wilkinson found Jacqui Hand in the 69th minute.
She headed the ball into the net, but the goal was eventually ruled out after Wilkinson was deemed offside.
Grace Jale’s effort in the dying moments of the game was superbly saved by Olivia McDaniel to deny the hosts an equaliser, and the Philippines held on for a famous victory.
Jitka Klimkova, New Zealand head coach, expressed disappointment at the result, saying that even though they were the better team, luck wasn’t on their side.
“I have to say, it’s so heartbreaking for everyone in this team. We played to win today and it didn’t go our way. I saw all our faces – we wanted it.
“We were fighting to the end, but it wasn’t enough. We were missing a little piece in our execution and that was decisive today.
“We were dominating the game again. There were too many unforced turnovers, we didn’t see those turnovers in our game against Norway.
“This time we had more than we wanted. We will review, we will look at the game, we will look for a way we can go against Switzerland. We will keep fighting,” she said.
Katie Bowen, New Zealand defender also rued their missed chances, adding that it was massive disappointment for the team.
“It’s still pretty raw at the moment. It’s massively disappointing.
“I felt we had chances and most of the possession, but we weren’t clinical enough and they wanted it more than us.” (NAN)