By Louie Encabo
AUCKLAND – After their historic first World Cup win against New Zealand, the Filipinas’ maiden FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament came to an end with a 0-6 drubbing by Norway.
Unfazed with the prospect of squaring off against 1995 World Cup champions, the Filipinas went on the offence immediately after the whistle blew. A throw in from a dangerous area brought Filipino fans in attendance – who dominated the make-up of Auckland’s Eden Park stadium – to the edge of their seat.
Making the most of their height advantage, the Norwegian defence quickly cleared the ball and begun a swift counter-attack that resulted in the first goal of the evening. A pinpoint cross found Sophia Roman Haug who struck the ball past Philippines goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel. Ten minutes later, Haug again proved tormentor for the Filipinas as her header doubled the Europeans’ lead.
The height discrepancy between the two teams was evident, and the Norwegians made the most of it with long balls and expert crosses. The Filipinas defence had their work cut out for them, desperately clearing the ball out of the box – often with little luck.
Even when the Filipinas kept the ball out of the penalty area, the Norwegians still found a way to capitalise. Caroline Hansen’s wonder strike from outside the box left McDaniel with no chance of saving it, and the Philippines were staring at the brink of elimination by half-time.
The Filipinas found renewed vigour in the second half, with forward Katrina Guillou brought on to add much needed creativity in the offensive line. Much like the first half, the early minutes of the restart again looked promising for the Asian side only for them to get punched in the gut with a sterling counter-attack by the Norwegian side.
Attempting to clear the ball out of the Philippine box, Filipinas defender Alicia Barker slid to clear it only for the ball to slot inside her own net instead. The own goal would not be the only mistake the debuting side would make early in the second half, with midfielder Jackie Sawicki giving up a penalty after being judged to have tripped a Norwegian player inside the penalty area.
Piling on to their misery, the Filipinas would find themselves a woman down after defender Sofia Harrison was red carded for an late challenge on Norway’s Thea Bjelde. Capping off a masterful Norwegian display, Sophia Haug completed her hat-trick and scored Norway’s sixth of the night.
The thumping wasn’t unexpected, given the enormous experience gap between the two sides. Norway boasted seasoned club players like FC Barcelona’s Hansen and Manchester United’s Vilde Boa Risa. In comparison, many Philippine players ply their trade with semi-pro teams in the Philippines and Australia, or with U.S. collegiate teams. The starting striker for the Filipinas, Bella Flanigan, is only 18 years old and has only ever played for her college soccer team.
Yet as inexperienced as they may be, they still managed to pick up a victory during their maiden FIFA World Cup – with the right support and training, imagine what they can do in four years’ time.
For these young players to be exposed to high-level games against top quality opponents can only be a good thing for the future of the Filipinas. It will aid their development and make them wiser, and given their young age you can expect this current crop of players to stick around longer.
Rather than seeing this defeat to Norway as the end of the tournament, we can instead look at it as a new dawn for Philippine women’s football. Team Philippines will now bid New Zealand goodbye, but not the FIFA World Cup. At its next iteration, the Filipinas could very well be chasing new highs.
FILIPINAS’ WOMAN OF THE MATCH: Olivia McDaniel (GK)
