WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealand coach Jitka Klimkova hailed the Philippines for making it to the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup ahead of their match on Tuesday.
Klimkova said the rise of the Filipinas that earned them a spot in the World Cup for the very first time is beneficial for women’s football as more teams are becoming competitive.
See Filipinas, Stajcic unperturbed as they face home bet New Zealand
Klimkova said the Football Ferns have been preparing for the Philippines even before their historic win over Norway last Thursday, and their September friendly in the US against the Filipinas was a big help in scouting.
New Zealand and the Philippines face off at 5:30 p.m. at the Wellington Regional Stadium (1:30 p.m., Manila time) .
“Unbelievable growth. Unbelievable improvement from Philippines,” the Czech coach said during the pre-match press conference on Monday night.
Klimkova admitted they were surprised with how they played during the friendly that saw Sarina Bolden putting the Philippines on the board first before New Zealand came back and eked out a 2-1 win.
Head coach Alen Stajcic said the New Zealand friendly was a turning point in their build-up for the Women’s World Cup since it was then where the team learned that they can compete against the world’s best.
It appears that Klimkova and the Football Ferns do not want a repeat of their performance during that friendly.
“I know we were actually shocked in that first half with what we saw specifically when they were scouting and they were a different team that evening. It’s great for women’s football that we have oppositions like Philippines that they are growing. They are pushing us. They are pushing everybody who they are playing against. That’s always good for the game and we have competitive teams,” said Klimkova.
The Football Ferns coach reiterated that every match in the Fifa Women’s World Cup will be a competitive one and the battle against the Filipinas, considered as the underdog in the competition, will be no different.
“We know we are not going to have an easy game in the World Cup. Every opposition that we are facing against, they have a reason to be here. They made the World Cup. We are very humbled. It will be hard. That’s why we are preparing the same way that we prepared against Norway… Playing Philippines in September, it’s very helpful because we understand their principles and tendencies. That should help us to be successful tomorrow,” said Klimkova.
The Football Ferns, ranked No. 26 in the world, are coming off their first-ever Women’s World Cup victory after 16 matches when they shocked Norway, 1-0, on a goal by Hannah Wilkinson.
Klimkova assured that the Football Ferns are focused on the the match against the Philippines following the high of the win witnessed by more than 42,000 spectators at the Eden Park in Auckland.
“After our first performance, they were very satisfied how we played against Norway. They are building on it. We want to raise our performance. We want to grow in this tournament. We’ve studied Philippines even prior to the tournament. We studied Philippines during their game against Switzerland so we understand how they play,” said Klimkova.
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