AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Two members of the Filipinas who had their moments in their first match in the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup remain optimistic about their chances in the tournament despite the loss to Switzerland on Friday in Dunedin.
Katrina Guillou and Olivia McDaniel, central figures in the Filipinas’ match against Switzerland, said the loss has not dampened their spirits as they now prepare for the next outing against New Zealand on Tuesday in Wellington.
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Guillou nearly gave the Filipinas their first-ever goal in the World Cup stage only to be ruled offside during the 15th minute of the match against the Nati.
“I think we started off pretty strong,” said Guillou. “We made things pretty difficult for them. We were popping into spaces and covering a lot of gaps. I think that was good. Unfortunately, we let up two goals.”
“I think for a first World Cup, and a debutant game, there’s a lot of things we can take and look forward into our next game,” the 29-year-old Guillou said.
McDaniel, on the other hand, was generally solid all throughout the match as the goalkeeper, but gave up the two goals on different circumstances.
The 25-year-old McDaniel yielded a penalty kick to Ramona Bachmann after Jessika Cowart brought down Coumba Sow inside the box minutes before the halftime whistle.
The Filipinas goalkeeper also nearly prevented the second goal for Switzerland with two consecutive saves only for Seraina Piubel to retrieve the loose ball and slot home the rebound.
“Unfortunately, we got an unfortunate PK. Messed around in the box but things won’t go our way sometimes. We just have to continue building from this game and get ready to move on to the next one,” said McDaniel.
Even with the defeat, the Filipinas remained undaunted by the task at hand as they continue their build-up against New Zealand, which stunned Norway, 1-0, in their opening match last Thursday.
“Absolutely, we are confident in what we can do and we can win the next one and keep going from here,” said McDaniel. “This won’t fault us going forward. We will take this loss. We will think about what we’ve done wrong, think about what we need to do better and apply it in the next game. But we are confident and ready to win the next one.”
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