Alen Stajcic: Philippines Women’s Football Team Miraculous

On Friday, the Philippines Women’s national team made history after becoming the first Philippine football team at any level to play at a FIFA World Cup event. It was a dream come true and an unexpected achievement for the Asians, and many expected them to be rolled over.

However, Friday’s clash against Switzerland doesn’t show signs that the Filipino would be a pushover even despite the loss, and with a clash against co-hosts New Zealand coming on Tuesday afternoon (Philippines time).

Friday’s game almost turned into a fairy tale when Katrina Guillou thought she had scored the opening goal and a history-making goal for the Philippines in the 16th minute. However, the crazy celebrations were muted after when the goal was ruled out for offside.

Switzerland went on to score a late first-half goal from the penalty while adding another in the second half to grab the victory, but this did not deter Philippines head coach Allan Stajcic who believed that it was miraculous for his team to get to this level of women’s football competition and give such unbelievable performance.

“To come to this level and play against players from Europe, against a team like that, is miraculous. There’s no doubt they (Switzerland) are the better team, and they should be; I was really proud of the spirit that our team showed. I think we showed that we can be competitive.” said coach Alen Stajcic.

That same competitive spirit will be needed against co-hosts New Zealand, who beat Norway on the competition’s opening day. Nothing short of a miracle will be needed against the female Ferns if the Filipinos want to stay alive in the competition until at least when they face Norway on the final match day.

A loss will end any hopes of progress for the Philippines, which will definitely cherish the experience. Norway will face Switzerland at 4 pm Philippines time in the group’s other game, while Colombia and South Korea will face each other in Tuesday’s first game. 

Daniel Ademiju Idowu