Philippines fairytale blows group wide open

WELLINGTON — Coach Alen Stajcic called it one of the biggest victories in the sporting history of the Philippines after his side claimed a historic first World Cup win on Tuesday.

The soccer minnow stunned co-host New Zealand 1-0 thanks to a first-half Sarina Bolden header in front of 32,357 fans in Wellington.

New Zealand, ranked 20 places higher than its opponent, created a string of second-half chances and had a goal disallowed but the Philippines held on for a famous win.

It was the Philippines' first victory at either a men's or women's World Cup and blows Group A wide open.

"In the history of the Philippines team sport I don't know if there has been a bigger win," said Australian Stajcic, who had already masterminded a debut World Cup finals appearance.

"It would have to be one of the best achievements in the history of the country."

Olivia McDaniel, the United States-born goalkeeper who earned the player of the match award, said: "It means everything to us.

"We knew that New Zealand were going to come in hard off the momentum from their win against Norway, but we couldn't have asked for better.

"We can't stop now, we have much more work to do," McDaniel added, with a spot in the last 16 now in view.

The Philippines, ranked 46th in the world, is guaranteed to go through if it can beat former champion Norway on Sunday.

Stajcic called the landmark win "emotional for all of us. It's unbelievable".

"Of course we rode our luck. New Zealand had three or four unbelievable chances and the VAR call," he said, referring to a disallowed goal in the second half.

"The unity and work rate and heart from the team was special. We had some luck, but we also earned our luck."

'Monumental' task

Coach Stajcic said the debutant faced a "monumental" task to beat Norway and squeeze into the tournament's knockout stages.

Stajcic said his team, who bounced back after losing its opening game to the Swiss, had to quickly shift focus to its final pool game.

"The job is not done," he said. "It's very important we switch back into competition mode and think what we have to do in the last game to try and squeeze out of this group."

Stajcic said the Philippines faces a tough assignment against 1995 world champion Norway, who has 2018 Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg in its squad.

"That's such a monumental task, especially when it's our third game in just over a week, so we have to recover physically and from the emotion," he said.

Stajcic said this wealth of tournament experience would be an asset against Norway.

"The players know the drill. There has been quite a lot of tournament experience in the last 18 months," he said.

"I think we have seen a lot of maturity and growth in the way they carry themselves off the field, let alone on it."

On the eve of the game, Stajcic had said the Philippines wanted to "crash the party" against a New Zealand side on a high after its opening 1-0 win over Norway.

His underdog team, beaten 2-0 by Switzerland on its World Cup debut, was as good as its word and scored the only goal after 24 minutes to stun the home crowd. Bolden out-jumped the home defense to head goalward as goalkeeper Victoria Esson could only watch in horror as her attempted parry looped over her into the net.

New Zealand showed little of the self-confidence which carried it past Norway for its first World Cup win at the 16th try.

"It's so heartbreaking for everyone in this team," said New Zealand's Czech coach Jitka Klimkova, as the Football Ferns came crashing back down to earth.

"We played to win and it didn't go our way. We were fighting until the end, but it wasn't enough."

Hannah Wilkinson, who hit the winner against Norway, went agonizingly close to equalizing but her header flew just over the bar.

Her forward partner Jacqui Hand clattered a shot against the post, then had a headed goal disallowed with 20 minutes left.

AFP