New Zealand head coach Jitka Klimková says her team were guilty of too many unforced turnovers in Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to the Philippines at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
After the match in Wellington, Klimková said:
“I have to say, it’s so heartbreaking for everyone in this team. We played to win today, and it didn’t go our way. I saw all our faces — we wanted it.
“We were fighting to the end, but it wasn’t enough. We were missing a little piece in our execution and that was decisive today.
“We were dominating the game again.
“There were too many unforced turnovers; we didn’t see those turnovers in our game against Norway. This time we had more than we wanted.
“We will review, we will look at the game, we will look for a way we can go against Switzerland.
“We will keep fighting.”
Main photo: Jitka Klimková … ‘we were dominating the game again.’
New Zealand defender Katie Bowen said:
“It’s still pretty raw at the moment. It’s massively disappointing. I felt we had chances and most of the possession, but we weren’t clinical enough and they wanted it more than us.”
Meanwhile, there was jubilation in the Philippines camp after scoring their first-ever goal at a FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Head coach Alen Stajcic said:
“How can you top beating a host nation at a World Cup? It’s number one.
“It was very emotional out on the pitch, seeing just about everyone crying. It’s unbelievable. When you hear stories of other teams needing so long to win World Cup matches. We have done it in our second match in our first World Cup.
“You can’t really appreciate how far back in the pack we have come compared to these teams. The unity, work rate and heart from the team was special.
“I don’t know if there’s been a bigger win for Philippines’ sport.
“It has to be one of the biggest wins in the history of the country.”
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Results
Games played on Tuesday July 25, 2023
Venue: Sky Stadium, Wellington
Attendance: 32,357
New Zealand 0
Philippines 1 (Sarina Bolden 24′)
Venue: FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton
Attendance: 10,769
Norway 0
Switzerland 0
Standings
Fixtures
# current FIFA world rankings
Games to be played on Sunday July 30, 2023
Norway (#12) v Philippines (#46)
Eden Park, Auckland, 7pm
Switzerland (#20) v New Zealand (#26)
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, 7pm
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