WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Sarina Bolden has scored a lot of goals for the Philippines over the course of her five-year international career.
She will never forget this one - ever.
Bolden scored the first-ever goal of a Philippine team in the World Cup stage, helping the Filipinas post a historic 1-0 win over host New Zealand in a nervy contest on Tuesday night at a packed Wellington Regional Stadium.
READ: Sarina Bolden scores first-ever PH goal at World Cup
The epic goal came in the 24th minute when Bolden headed home the ball in front of goal off a cross by Sara Eggesvik. New Zealand 'keeper Victoria Esson got a hand on the ball but couldn’t parry it away, sparking a wild celebration by the Filipinas on the field in front of 32,357 fans, a lot of them Filipinos.
On this historic night, the Philippines, which lost its Women's World Cup debut, 2-0, against Switzerland, kept alive its hopes of securing a spot in the round-of-16 with the full three points in Group A heading to its final match of the group stage against Norway on Sunday.
The Filipinas endured an agonizing hour after the Bolden goal but kept their composure, surviving several uneasy moments in the second half.
The scariest of them all came in the 65th minute when Jacqui Hand scored a header off a cross by Hannah Wilkinson. The Filipinas heaved a sigh of relief when the goal was shortly disallowed following a review of the video assistant referee (VAR).
New Zealand's last gasp - a shot by Grace Jale infront of goal - landed into the clutch hands of Philippines goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel who got a touch just enough to direct the ball outside the post.
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