New Zealand player: 'Losing to Philippines was too painful'

Center back Katie Bowen and her teammates found it hard to swallow the 0-1 defeat against newcomer Philippines in the second round of Group A of the 2023 Women's World Cup on the afternoon of July 25.

"This defeat hurts. It hurts us, especially after beating Norway," Katie Bowen told Viaplay after the match at Sky. "We set out to get three points and we didn't get it."

Like Bowen, coach Jitka Klimkova shared that she felt heartbroken. However, the 48-year-old coach affirmed that everything was not over, calling on the New Zealand players to quickly refocus for the decisive match against Switzerland.

Hannah Wilkinson's offside error caused New Zealand to have a goal disallowed in the 68th minute. Photo: Sky Sports

In this match, New Zealand was highly appreciated, cheered by more than 30,000 home fans. They also dominated the ball possession (69%) and launched 16 shots - four times more than the Philippines. Among them, there were many good chances. However, they did not convert even one into a goal. The home team was also unlucky when Jacqui Hand's goal in the 68th minute was denied due to an offside.

Semi-automatic offside technology showed Hannah Wilkinson's right shoulder was just inches from the last Philippine defender, before the home striker received the ball and crossed for Hand to head in. After reporters showed the incident, a frustrated Hand said: "It's VAR. They said it was offside, so it was offside. It's part of football but I feel bad."

Right-back CJ Bott described the situation as difficult to swallow but accepted defeat. "I hate the offside rule," Bott told Stuff. "It wouldn't have been a game-changing moment if we had taken other chances."

Captain Ali Riley said that when VAR intervened, she thought it was all over, and felt helpless as New Zealand pressed hard but could not score. On the other hand, the Philippines, despite being outplayed, scored from the only shot on target, a header from Sarina Bolden.

In the remaining match, Switzerland drew 0-0 with Norway, leading to a very unpredictable group situation. Switzerland leads with four points, followed by Norway with one point. Second place is New Zealand with three points, equal to the Philippines but with a better goal difference (0 vs. -1).

The final two matches take place at the same time on July 30 with New Zealand vs Switzerland and the Philippines vs Norway.

Hieu Luong

Source link