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Football: New Zealand laments 'heartbreaking' loss to Filipinas

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Hannah Wilkinson, Ali Riley and Jacqui Hand of New Zealand react after losing the FIFA Women" s="" World="" Cup="" group="" A="" soccer="" match="" between="" New="" Zealand="" and="" the="" Philippines="" in="" July="" Ritchie="" B.="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/overseas/07/26/hannah.jpg"/><figcaption>Hannah Wilkinson, Ali Riley and Jacqui Hand of New Zealand react after losing the FIFA Women&#x27;s World Cup group A soccer match between New Zealand and the Philippines in Wellington, New Zealand, July 25, 2023. <em>Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>New Zealand was left to lament a host of missed chances in its shock loss to the Philippines in the FIFA Women&#x27;s World Cup, where the Football Ferns failed to find the back of the net despite controlling most of the possession. </p><p>The Filipinas pulled off a 1-0 win over the Football Ferns at the Sky Stadium in Wellington on Tuesday, in what was the biggest upset of the FIFA Women&#x27;s World Cup so far. The result threw Group A wide open, with all four teams still capable of advancing to the round-of-16.</p><p>But for the co-hosts, it was a lost opportunity to seal their place in the knockouts with still a match left in their group stage schedule. They entered the game as favorites against a lower-ranked Philippines side, brimming with confidence after an upset win of their own over Norway in their first World Cup match last week.</p><p>They couldn&#x27;t get past Olivia McDaniel, however, and were unlucky to have a second-half goal nullified because Hannah Wilkinson was a fraction offside in the build-up. A fine strike by Grace Jale in the 93rd minute was parried away by McDaniel at the last second, preserving the Philippines&#x27; lead.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/25/23/filipinas-stun-new-zealand-for-first-ever-world-cup-win">Football: Filipinas stun New Zealand for first-ever World Cup win</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/25/23/sarina-bolden-scores-phs-first-ever-world-cup-goal">Sarina Bolden scores PH&#x27;s first ever World Cup goal</a></li></ul><p>&quot;It&#x27;s sports,&quot; New Zealand coach Jitka Klimková said after the match. &quot;Five days ago, we were celebrating, and we were so excited. Today, we didn&#x27;t get what we wanted and played for.&quot;</p><p>&quot;We could see in our players how much they wanted [it], how much they were fighting for it, from the first to the 90th-plus minute,&quot; he added. &quot;Again, our goal was to inspire our nation, and it was not the result we wanted.&quot;</p><p>&quot;But the fight and the passion was definitely there tonight.&quot;</p><p>Post-match statistics showed that New Zealand controlled 59% of the possession, and had 16 attempts at goal. Only four were on target, however, and McDaniel proved up to the task every time the Football Ferns threatened.</p><p>On the other end, Victoria Esson bobbled the ball when Sarina Bolden headed in a cross from Sara Eggesvik, and eventually lost control to the delight of the Filipinas and their supporters.</p><p>Klimková denied any suggestion of complacency from her side, stressing that they entered the match with great focus after their big win over Norway.</p><p>&quot;I could see the re-focus, I could see on our players that they were prepared for this game, the same way how we were prepared against Norway. The game plan was different vs. Norway, but again, we could see some good football on the field,&quot; she explained.</p><p>&quot;It didn&#x27;t go our way, the execution was missing even in our final third. How many times we get in the final third and spent time in the final third, how much we kept the ball. That&#x27;s what we wanted. We wanted to control the game,&quot; she added.</p><p>&quot;Sometimes you have this kind of game where you are dominating the possession and you just can&#x27;t find the net, and that was tonight.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/25/23/rest-is-history-bolden-relives-golden-moment-vs-new-zealand">&#x27;Rest is history&#x27;: Bolden relives golden moment vs. New Zealand</a></li></ul><p>Despite the result, New Zealand can still make it out of Group A assuming it gets a favorable result against Switzerland on July 30. The Swiss are currently on top of the group with four points from a win and a draw, while the Football Ferns and the Filipinas are tied with three points.</p><p>Norway, who was favored to top the group before the tournament started, only has one point from its draw against Switzerland and has yet to score a goal in the World Cup.</p><p>&quot;Tonight it was heartbreaking. I could see tears in our eyes, on our players. I know how much it means for them to be here and to play in front of their friends and families and fans,&quot; Klimková said. &quot;So it is heartbreaking, but this is not over yet. We still have one game to go, and we still have time to rest and refocus and get ready for the game against Switzerland.&quot;</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2734277" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

New Zealand were left to lament a host of missed chances in their shock loss to the Philippines in the FIFA Women's World Cup.

Football: New Zealand laments 'heartbreaking' loss to Filipinas

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Football: New Zealand laments 'heartbreaking' loss to Filipinas

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 26, 2023 03:54 PM PHT

Read More:

football

FIFA

FIFA Women's World Cup

PWNFT

Filipinas

New Zealand

Jitka Klimková

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