What do you’re feeling while you hear the Philippine nationwide anthem being performed at a worldwide sporting occasion?
With the Philippine nationwide girls’s soccer staff, the Filipinas, making their debut within the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, ‘Lupang Hinirang’ will probably be performed for the primary time in certainly one of soccer’s largest levels.
“I get the chills. When I heard you say that, I felt this starstruck kind of thing,” Hali Long mentioned when requested in the course of the New Zealand’s embassy send-off ceremony for the Filipinas final June.
“Just excitement. I have this ritual where when the other national anthem is playing, I really try to ground myself,” Long added. “I just give thanks to where I am, who I am with, all the hands that have helped, all the people there supporting us.”
“By the time Lupang Hinirang comes on, I’m probably semi-emotional and the last four lines, I’m probably looking at my toes, letting the tears fall.”
That overwhelming feeling of pleasure for the Philippines and giving one’s all for the flag is what Long is happy for.
“That’s what I’m most excited for, that feeling. It already is such an overwhelming feeling for me. To do that on the global stage, I’ll let you know what it feels like when I get there.”
“Right now, it’s hard to describe that. It’s so ceremonial to me and I can’t even tell you exactly how I feel but it’s overwhelming, full of joy, and really grateful and honored that I get to do that for the Philippines.”
The Filipinas will face Switzerland of their first sport on Friday in New Zealand.
—with reporting by Ryan Fenix/JMB, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
