FILIPINAS coach Alen Stajcic is glad to see the fighting qualities that the national squad has been showing over the past friendlies including their recent draw against Costa Rica on Saturday at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium in San Jose.
The Philippine women’s national football team held the home team, 1-1, on a goal by Katrina Guillou in the 90th minute. The Filipinas conceded a Costa Rica goal by Priscila Chinchilla in the 57th but salvage the stalemate.
“Ninety minutes of courage, hardwork, a lot of resilience,” said Stajcic.
Solid buildup
The draw adds to the solid showing of the Filipinas in the build-up to the Fifa Women’s World Cup next year. Last September, PWNT lost to World Cup-bound New Zealand, 2-1, but not after Sarina Bolden scored the first goal of the match.
Like New Zealand, Costa Rica is also bound for the World Cup and is ranked 37th in the world
Guillou admitted that with the way the Filipinas played in the second half, she thought that they would eventually get a breakthrough goal after a 0-0 scoreline at the break.
“Honestly, we came out a lot better in the second half. We put them under more pressure. We were getting them behind. We were giving them a hard time to find their way out on the back. We knew it was just a matter of time,” said Guillou.
"We just kept pressing even though we were getting real tired. We were all there with that one last push and we were able to put it away," she added.
The Philippines will face Costa Rica again on Tuesday (Wednesday, Philippine time). Stajcic said the team still has a lot of work to do despite the decent result.
“So defensively, I thought we were good. We have limited possessions in the game. On the flipside, there is also the weakness, our ability to keep the ball and pass the ball was not good enough.
"We really have to work hard to improve our technique and our first touch, and our passing if we are going to compete with teams that are going to the World Cup.”
“I’m really proud of the spirit and hardwork of the group. We know we said this many times how much hard we have to work especially on the ball,” said Stajcic.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
