WELLINGTON
\nPhilippines head coach Alen Stajcic said the Women\u2019s World Cup debutants faced a \u201cmonumental\u201d task to beat Norway and squeeze into the tournament\u2019s knock-out stages.
\nRanked 46th in the world, the Philippines blew Group A wide open with a shock 1-0 win over co-hosts New Zealand on Tuesday.
\nSarina Bolden scored the winning header in Wellington to claim her country\u2019s first goal at a Women\u2019s World Cup \u2013 which also sealed the Philippines\u2019 maiden victory at either a men\u2019s or women\u2019s finals.
\nThe side can reach the last 16 by beating Norway on Sunday, the same day New Zealand face Switzerland.
\nStajcic said his team, who bounced back after losing their opening game to the Swiss, had to quickly shift focus to their final pool game.
\n\u201cThe job is not done,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very important we switch back into competition mode and think what we have to do in the last game to try and squeeze out of this group.\u201d
\nStajcic said the Philippines face a tough assignment against 1995 world champions Norway, who have 2018 Ballon d\u2019Or winner Ada Hegerberg in their squad.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s such a monumental task, especially when it\u2019s our third game in just over a week, so we have to recover physically and from the emotion,\u201d he said.
\nThe Philippines have shot up the rankings since the Australian took charge in late 2021, qualifying for the World Cup for the first time by reaching the semi-finals of the Women\u2019s Asian Cup early last year.
\nStajcic said this wealth of tournament experience would be an asset as they prepared to play the Norwegians, who have yet to win at this World Cup, losing to New Zealand then drawing with the Swiss.
\nThe players know the drill. There has been quite a lot of tournament experience in the last 18 months,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cI think we have seen a lot of maturity and growth in the way they carry themselves off the field, let alone on it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WELLINGTON Philippines head coach Alen Stajcic said the Women\u2019s World Cup debutants faced a \u201cmonumental\u201d task to beat Norway and squeeze into the tournament\u2019s knock-out stages. Ranked 46th in the world, the Philippines blew Group A wide open with a shock 1-0 win over co-hosts New Zealand on Tuesday. Sarina Bolden scored the winning header […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-345774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n