WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Sarina Bolden scored the goal but Olivia McDaniel came up with the crucial stops to preserve the Philippines’ first win in the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup on Tuesday.
McDaniel rescued the Philippines and kept the victory intact with a clutch save on the shot by New Zealand’s Grace Jale, and her performance earned her the Player of the Match trophy.
Player of the match
When asked where she will be keeping the trophy during the postmatch press conference, McDaniel said: “Hopefully, we will keep it next to the World Cup trophy when we get it.”
Capturing the World Cup title may not be that far-fetched with the way they have been creating history one after the other.
History was made on Tuesday when the Philippines captured its first win after beating New Zealand, 1-0, in front of more than 32,000 fans at the Wellington Regional Stadium.
McDaniel and the team wants more accomplishments achieved in the Women's World Cup.
“It feels amazing and hopefully, this isn’t the last accolade we achieved. This isn’t just me. This isn’t just what I’ve done. This is what the team has done. This is what the coaching staff has done, everyone behind the scenes have done. We put in the work and we came out on top because of it. We can’t stop. We’ve got much more work to do,” said McDaniel.
The Filipina goalkeeper did have her nervy moments as well when Jacqui Head scored on a goal off a cross by Hannah Wilkinson. A VAR review, however, revealed that Wilkinson was offside before the pass.
See Sarina Bolden deflects the credit for historic game-winner
McDaniel said the goal being disallowed was a signal for her and the entire team to really step it up a notch.
“We all collectively hold our breath for a minute or two. Such an incredible goal by them. For it to be called back, we knew that we need to keep moving forward. We had to calm down, settle in the game, knowing that it’s going to keep on coming and it will not stop. We had to make sure that it didn’t happen again,” said McDaniel.
“It’s for the entire country. It’s for the entire team. It can’t just be for yourself. It’s for everybody. Every single person, we helped fight for this,” said McDaniel.
McDaniel is no stranger to being a hero for the Philippines, scoring a goal and making a save during the win by the Filipinas over Chinese Taipei in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup through penalties.
But the 25-year-old said her latest feat could be the best moment of her football career.
“I think it might,” said McDaniel. “I think this means just a bit more.”
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