DESPITE the defeat in their first appearance in the Fifa Women’s World Cup, Philippines coach Alen Stajcic said there's a silver lining in the match against Switzerland on Friday.
The Filipinas lost to the Nati, 2-0, in their initial match in Dunedin, New Zealand but Stajcic is satisfied with the overall performance of the squad due to the quality of competition they played against.
“To come to this level and play against players from Europe, and we know that Europe is the strongest region in women’s football at this point in time over the last three years. You know they have players playing in Arsenal, PSG, and Barcelona,” said Stajcic.
The Filipinas coach was pertaining to the trio of defender Noelle Maritz, and strikers Ramona Bachmann and Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic.
“And we have four or five starting players who don’t have a club for the last year. For us to compete against a team like that is miraculous, really,” said Stajcic.
Bachmann led the Nati to victory with a penalty kick in the 45th minute after a foul inside the box against Jessica Cowart.
The Filipinas went toe-to-toe with the Swiss team early in the match, with Katrina Guillou even scoring a goal only for it to be nullified due to an offside.
Even after conceding the second goal of the match, the Filipinas continued to play on, even having a few scoring chances before the final whistle.
Stajcic said the Filipinas showed a courageous effort amidst the pressure of playing a historic World Cup match.
“You saw true spirit, true heart, a team that never gave up, proud of their jersey, proud of the flag, proud of the people they represent, and I think that’s the most important thing, you know, to come to the World Cup for the first time in the history in men’s or women’s football and to put on a performance like that and just showed courage and heart is the first and most important thing,” said Stajcic.
Stajcic is confident that the complexion of the match would have changed if the breaks went their way, including that goal by Guillou.
“Obviously, I think over time, I’m sure we’ll get better, more experienced to go about our skill level to be able to beat teams like Switzerland. I thought Switzerland was the better team, they had those fortunate moments like the penalty which was a close call.”
“If that doesn’t go in and maybe it’s nil-nil at halftime, (it’s) a different game, but there’s no doubt they are the better team and they should be, but I’m just proud of the spirit of our team,” said Stajcic.
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