New Zealand 0 Philippines 1
The Philippines gatecrashed New Zealand’s party on Tuesday with a stunning 1-0 upset of the Women’s World Cup co-hosts but coach Alen Stajcic said the celebrations will have to be cut short as they have to prepare for their final group game against Norway.
The World Cup debutants lost their opener against Switzerland and faced long odds against a New Zealand side ranked 20 places above them, playing in front of a packed house of loyal home fans in Wellington.
But Stajcic had promised to “crash the party” and his side succeeded thanks to a 24th-minute header from striker Sarina Bolden, killing the buzz from New Zealand’s own shock upset of former winners Norway just a few days ago.
New Zealand's hopes of at least drawing the match following Jacqui Hand's header in the 68th minute were dashed after the goal was ruled out for offside and their frantic stoppage-time efforts yielded no success.
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“It was very emotional out on the pitch,” said Stajcic, who told reporters that players and staff shed tears.
“To think that we’ve done it in our second match in our first World Cup ... the unity and work rate and heart from the team was special. We had some luck but we also earned our luck.”
The players walked hand-in-hand to the stands where they bowed in front of cheering and flag-waving fans.
But with the showdown with 1995 winners Norway looming in Auckland on Sunday, Stajcic said the celebrations will be short and sweet.
“There is no celebration, to be honest. They'll celebrate until midnight,” said Stajcic.
“Tomorrow it’s back to work. Job’s not done. It’s very important that we switch back into competition mode and think about what we have to do in the last game to try to squeeze out of this group.”
“Today is a big improvement, what we are doing collectively,” Riise said. “We came here with more energy than last time ... We created enough chances today.
“We have the talent and the great players but we haven’t scored any goals yet. We lack the victory to be able to be completely satisfied.”
Caroline Graham Hansen, Ingrid Syrstad Engen and Julie Blakstad were dropped and replaced by Emilie Haavi, Amalie Eikeland and Vilde Boa Risa but Norway were dealt a huge blow seconds before kick-off when striker Hegerberg injured her groin.
Former Ballon d’Or winner Hegerberg, who has 43 goals in 76 games, sufferedSwitzerland 0 Norway 0
Switzerland had goalkeeper Gaelle Thalmann to thank for securing a valuable 0-0 draw against Norway, who recovered from a shaky start after Ada Hegerberg’s withdrawal but could not find a breakthrough in the other Group A match on Tuesday in Hamilton.
Norway coach Hege Riise rang the changes in an attempt to revive the team’s fortunes after the former champions suffered a shock opening defeat by co-hosts New Zealand, but they failed to score for a second straight game. the injury in the last sprint of the warm-up and was replaced by Sophie Roman Haug.
A solid Switzerland side look well-placed to advance from the group stage and top the table with four points. Having beaten Philippines 2-0 in their opener, they need only a point against New Zealand in Dunedin to reach the last 16.
Norway are bottom with one point and on the brink of elimination. They need a win to keep their hopes alive and will now face an emboldened Philippines team after their win over New Zealand.
Colombia 2 South Korea 0
After numerous games at the Women’s World Cup have been halted for VAR reviews, South Korea coach Colin Bell angrily wondered why there was no VAR for a penalty called against his team in a 2-0 loss to Colombia on Tuesday.
Catalina Usme scored on a 30th-minute penalty kick after Shim Seo-yeon was whistled for a handball, deflating the Korean side.
“The penalty was a little bit harsh because the ball was really well-struck, at speed, at distance, I don’t know where Seo-yeon would have had to put our arms,” said Bell, on the shot that glanced off the defender’s arm.
“I just wondered why that was not reviewed. I’ve watched all the matches so far in this tournament, you’ve had five minutes with review at times [when] nobody knows what’s going on. This time it’s a clear penalty. So, then you go down [a goal], and then it’s very difficult against a very strong Colombia team.”
Linda Caicedo, an 18-year-old striker for Real Madrid, added the second goal for Colombia, who dominated for most of the afternoon at Sydney Football Stadium, easily slicing through Korea’s defence.
Former Ireland manager Bell said his team made it too easy for Caicedo.
“Obviously Linda is a really big talent but we just gave her too much space. I used to play full back, so I would just slide tackle,” said Bell, who was hired after Korea lost all three matches at the 2019 World Cup.
“We had the options to do that also before the second goal. You cannot just shadow a player. We need to be stronger in the one-v-one situation. Not going to say you can stop them every time. But definitely we could have just slide tackled. No foul, win the ball, ball was free. Job done. You’re a defender, defend.”
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