Philippines’ coach Alen Stajcic is seen on the touchline during the Australia and New Zealand 2023 Women’s World Cup Group A football match between the Philippines and Switzerland at Dunedin Stadium in Dunedin on July 21, 2023. (Photo by Sanka Vidanagama / AFP)
AUCKLAND, New Zealand—Coach Alen Stajcic believes it will be a whole different game when the Philippines face co-host New Zealand in a key Fifa Women’s World Cup match for both teams after facing off in a friendly 10 months earlier.
The contest set Tuesday in Wellington is seen as the Filipinas’ best chance of getting a result in their debut appearance in women’s football’s biggest stage, given the way they performed despite a 2-1 defeat to the Football Ferns last September in California.
But New Zealand is also on a high after getting a landmark first World Cup victory with a shock upset of Group A favorite Norway on Hannah Wilkinson’s goal.
“That game doesn’t affect our approach,” Stajcic said. “I think that game (friendly) was really important from our perspective in terms of what was one of the highest-ranked teams we played in a long time. And we knew that we’ve progressed a long way over the preceding 12 months.
“We were leading that game for a long time and, you know, there’s different personnel in this game. They have four or five different players, so do we. You can’t look back at that game with any convictions and has relevance to this game,” he added.
A Sarina Bolden goal off Sara Eggesvik’s pass gave the Filipinas a 1-0 lead at the half, and there was an impression that they can keep the scoreline until the final whistle.
But a foul inside the box allowed New Zealand to score the equalizer before veteran Ali Riley supplied the winner with less than 10 minutes remaining.
“What it did do for us is just personally how much it showed that beat teams ranked in the 20s and we can compete with these teams,” said Stajcic. “It was really a watershed game and [it] really lifted the belief to know that we can walk on this pitch and we have a chance at the game where as I think before that time we will play these games and hope that we can win, but the belief that we can win.
“But we have to be in our best because we’re the underdog in this tournament, the underdog in this group and we have to do everything right to get ourselves a chance,” he added.