Fairy tale start scratched by offside flag as Filipinas lose to Swiss in Women’s World Cup

FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 – Group A – Philippines v Switzerland – Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand – July 21, 2023 Philippines’ Katrina Guillou celebrates scoring a disallowed goal REUTERS/Molly Darlington

A disallowed goal early in the match. A penalty late in the first half. In both cases, the decisions were either confirmed or caught by eagle-eye technology.
And all over the field, a technically superior foe.

Everything became real for the Philippine women’s national football team on Friday in Dunedin in New Zealand.

The Filipinas dropped a 2-0 decision to Switzerland at Dunedin Stadium but the result hardly detracted from the value of the moment: The country was at last playing in the Fifa (international football federation) Women’s World Cup and fought to the end of its debut fixture.

And the Filipinas, as the team is called, were greeted by a roar of cheers from the crowd of nearly 14,000—turning their milestone stint into a game to remember.

“To come to this level and play against players from Europe, against a team like that is miraculous,” said coach Alen Stajcic.

The dream outing nearly turned into the stuff of fairy tales when Katrina Guillou streaked forward and scored what could have been an opening goal for the Philippines in the 16th minute. But the delirious celebration was cut short moments later when the attacking midfielder’s heroics was nullified after she was flagged for offside.

A video graphic showed the call was right—however barely.

FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 – Group A – Philippines v Switzerland – Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand – July 21, 2023 Switzerland’s Luana Buhler and Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic applaud fans after the match REUTERS/Molly Darlington

The Swiss, meanwhile, slowly warmed up their attack on a chilly evening where temperatures dropped to as low as 7 degrees Celsius during the match. The relentless attacking paid off when Jessica Cowart conceded a penalty after the referee consulted the VAR (video-assisted referee) in the 43rd minute.

Switzerland’s 32-year-old forward Ramona Bachmann sent Philippines goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel the wrong way for her team’s opening goal.

“If it’s a VAR decision—from my understanding—it’s supposed to be a clear and obvious error,” Stajcic said of the penalty. “I didn’t see the replay.”

The Filipinas stayed afloat with dogged defending and some strong saves by McDaniel but allowed the ball to loiter too long in front of the goal and the Swizz capitalized again. McDaniel thwarted close-range attempts Cuomba Sow and Ana-Maria Crnogorčević but Seraina Piubel finally doubled the lead on a third attempt in the 64th minute.

“There’s no doubt they are the better team, and they should be,” Stajcic said. “I was really proud of the spirit that our team showed. I think we showed that we can be competitive.”

Switzerland dominated a match where it cornered 73 percent of the possessions. The Swiss created 12 chances against the Filipinas’ one and had 17 attempts, eight on goal.

The Philippines, meanwhile, only had three shots, none on target, and yielded three corners while taking none.

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