Despite their exit from the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Philippine women’s football team has accomplished something no other Filipino team has done before.
The Filipinas turned out to be one of the tournament’s overachievers in spite of their massive underdog status coming into the group stage of the Cup.
Their dream run ended on Sunday when they lost to European powerhouse Norway 6-0. It came after their 1-0 upset of New Zealand last week, which kept them in the hunt for a place in the round of 16.
“We knew that it was going to be a dogfight from the beginning. Norway is a super strong team, you know, a team that has a lot of experience, not only in the World Cup but professionally, they play on top flight teams, so we knew,” said Filipinas striker Sarina Bolden.
“We definitely were outclassed tonight. They were such an amazing team,” said goal-keeper Olivia McDaniel, who registered some superb saves to prevent a total blowout.
Norway lost 1-0 to New Zealand in its World Cup opener and was held to a goalless draw by Switzerland in their second match. The Grasshoppers also survived an internal rift after Barcelona superstar Caroline Graham Hansen expressed her dismay at being dropped from the starting lineup against Switzerland.
Norway also played without former Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg against the Philippines.
“Such world-class girls are coming at us, I mean Graham Hansen, [Guro] Reiten, I mean they are just amazing athletes and you’ve got to give it to them. They put some balls in the back of the net, but that’s okay,” said McDaniel.
But the Filipinas chose to focus on their achievements. They were the lowest-ranked team in Group A but proved capable with a competitive game against Switzerland and an improbable upset against New Zealand.
“Overall our first World Cup debutants I’m really proud of. I’m so proud of this team for being able to make history. It’s kind of like our thing that we do from time to time and there’s a lot of things to still be proud of,” said Bolden.
“For us to even get that far is amazing, and it shows the hard work, the dedication, the staff working so hard and diligently, and the players sacrificing so much.”
The Filipinas are expected to return to action in September for the Asian Games, and there will be more competitions to come, including the next round of qualifiers for the Paris Olympics.
