AUCKLAND, New Zealand – The Philippines may have had a historic night on Tuesday when it won its first-ever World Cup match, but Alen Stajcic felt the victory over New Zealand wasn’t exactly their best performance.
“To be honest, I actually think we played better against Switzerland,” said Stajcic following Friday’s training session at Olympic Park. “The result masks their performance, good or bad.”
READ: More watch parties set as PH catches World Cup fever
The Filipinas won their first-ever game in the World Cup with a 1-0 win over the co-host, just days after a 2-0 defeat to Switzerland in their debut.
But Stajcic said the Filipinas enjoyed more luck in their victory against New Zealand, compared to Switzerland.
“I was really pleased with how we went out in that first game, considering it was the first game of the country at that level. It’s so often the case that you could be overawed by the occasion. And our players weren't.
"To go into that game and compete with Switzerland, that certainly didn’t get the rub of the green. The penalty that could have gone either way and the offside call that was very tight, it was almost the opposite of what happened in the New Zealand game where we did sort of ride our luck a little bit,” said Stajcic.
Stajcic’s point should be enough for the Filipinas not to rest on their laurels ahead of Sunday’s all-important match against Norway even with their opponent being at the bottom of the table with only one point in Group A.
Stajcic said Norway has a rich women’s football winning tradition that includes a 1995 Women’s World Cup title and a 2000 Olympic gold medal.
“They’ve got a bunch of world-class players. They are a fantastic team. You don’t get to be at the top of the world. They are ranked 12th but they have been in the Top 10 basically for the last 20, 30 years.
"They have an amazing pedigree, culture of women’s football, they’ve started a league, and less Scandinavian countries around Norway, including Norway, have had women’s leagues for 30, 40 years when no one really cared about women’s football.”
“When you’ve got that history, you also got that little bit of accountability and pressure which they did. There’s no doubt that they are a good team. They are a top team. That’s why they are a favorite to win the group initially,” said Stajcic.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
