By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Filipinas goal keeper Olivia McDaniel deflected the credit to her teammates following their stunning 1-0 victory over New Zealand in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup at the Wellington Regional Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, July 25.
According to McDaniel, her teammates have contributed more to the country’s first-ever FIFA World Cup victory compared to the saves she made on New Zealand’s goal attempts.
“This is just what I have done [goal saving]. This is what the team has done and what the country has done. It was a team win,” McDaniel, who was hailed as the Player of the Game in the victory, said.
“It [Player of the Game trophy] is amazing, but hopefully this is not the last accolade we will win,” she said.
“Hopefully, we will keep it next to the World Cup trophy when we get it,” she added.
McDaniel admitted that facing and beating New Zealand was challenging, especially as the host team came from a morale-boosting 1-0 victory over Norway at the start of the World Cup last week.
“We really put our heads down and we knew what was really coming at us. New Zealand would be coming hard from their momentum of their win against Norway, but we put our head down and came in focused. We had a goal in mind and we achieved it,” she said.
McDaniel also noted that there was a testy moment in the game when New Zealand’s Jacqui Hand knocked down a potential game-tying goal before being waived off for being offside.
“We collectively held our breath for a minute or two. Such an incredible goal by them, but we are grateful that it was called back and we had to move forward,” the Filipina-American keeper said.
For his part, Filipinas head coach Alen Stajcic admitted that luck played a huge role in their historic World Cup victory on the world stage, and believes his players earned it.
“We had some luck but we earned that luck,” Stajcic said in a post-game interview.
“Of course, we rode our luck because New Zealand had three or four unbelievable chances [to tie the game], he said.
“There was that VAR
call, inside the post goal [that McDaniel was able to save]. But the unity, work rate and heart of the team was special,” Stajcic, who previously handled the Australian women’s football team in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, added./ASC, WDJ