AUCKLAND, New Zealand – The Philippines is embracing the pressure of Sunday’s match against Norway where the team will be seeking for a historic berth in the knockout stage of the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup.
The Filipinas will try to get another landmark achievement on Sunday when they face Norway on Sunday at Eden Park. But with the stakes high, the Filipinas are treating the match as any other.
“There’s pressure. It’s great. It’s brilliant,” said Stajcic after their training last Thursday. “You are at a World Cup, there’s going to be pressure. If you don’t like pressure, you shouldn’t be playing an elite sport.”
Cowart on Filipinas mindset vs Norway
Filipinas defender Jessika Cowart said she and her teammates are upbeat going into the Norway match, treating the upcoming tussle like any other match they’ve competed in over the past 18 months.
“The emotions and the vibe of the group have been really good,” said Cowart during the pre-match press conference. “We are going into this game what we do every game.”
The whole team is definitely aware of the caliber of the team they are facing – a Norway team that once won the World Cup in 1995 and the Olympic gold in 2000.
“It’s been really exciting,” said Cowart. “I think international football is a different beast so we’ve come out and play teams of such a different caliber. It’s been a great learning experience for us. We are trying to soak every moment in. It’s our first time here. We are trying to grasp every moment we can.”
Cowart is part of the Philippines backline that has been producing good results for the team most especially against New Zealand where they protected the lead they produced when Sarina Bolden scored the squad’s first-ever goal at a World Cup.
The Philippine defense will now be taking on a frontline that has marquee names such as Ada Hegerberg from Lyon and Graham Hansen from Barcelona, but the mindset remains the same.
“It’s football,” said Cowart. “There’s 11 of us. There’s 11 of them. There’s a ball and we want to keep the ball out our net. Of course, all the other factors outside of football at the world stage, the players playing against, the teams we are playing, that’s all added pressure. But it’s what you make of it and how you perceive it.”
“If we go out there and we play the game we love and we know, that’s all that matters. We are going to go out there and fight like we have the past few games, like what we have the past 18 months, go out there with pride and puso, and we are going to play as hard as we can,” said Cowart.
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