Filipinas kick off FIFA World Cup debut vs no. 20 Switzerland

On Friday, historical past shall be made because the Philippine ladies’s nationwide soccer staff, extra popularly often known as the Filipinas, will make its debut in one in all soccer’s greatest levels because it competes within the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Filipinas will kick off their maiden World Cup marketing campaign towards powerhouse Switzerland at 1 p.m. (Manila time) on the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Head coach Alen Stajcic mentioned the whole lot they’ve carried out since he took over the teaching reins in October 2021 has ready them for this historic second the gamers might solely dream of up to now.

“We’ve been preparing from the day we qualified. We’re probably one of the first teams to qualify for the World Cup so it’s been almost from ground zero to full throttle,” Stajcic mentioned in a press convention forward of their first match towards the Swiss.

“We really hit full throttle, playing with teams from all around the globe [who have] different styles of football and different cultures.”

The Filipinas are touted because the underdogs in Group A, being ranked at forty sixth on the earth whereas Norway is the top-ranked amongst them at twelfth spot. Switzerland and New Zealand, in the meantime, are at twentieth and twenty sixth spots, respectively.

Still, the Australian mentor believes they took each alternative to enhance through the previous couple of months earlier than setting foot on the World Cup. They arrange camp in varied nations together with Australia, Spain, Chile, and the United States and engaged in plenty of tune-up video games to develop their expertise and construct chemistry.

“I know we have given the players every opportunity to grow and to improve as individuals and as a group. I know that the coaching staff has given everything that they can possibly give to help accelerate their learning growth,” he added.

After going through Switzerland, the Filipinas could have a four-day break earlier than plunging again into motion on July 25 towards New Zealand and on July 30 towards Norway.

Earlier, New Zealand opened the World Cup with a 1-0 win towards Norway.

—Bea Micaller/JKC, GMA Integrated News