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Stajcic on Eggesvik, Serrano: 'They're not playing for Norway'

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="PFF-PWNFT." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/07/29/20230729-sara-eggesvik-pff-pwnft.jpg"/><figcaption>Philippines midfielder Sara Eggesvik (C) in action against New Zealand in the FIFA Women&#x27;s World Cup. <em>PFF-PWNFT.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Philippines coach Alen Stajcic was quick to shut down the notion that he has &quot;two Norwegian players&quot; in his squad, ahead of a crucial FIFA Women&#x27;s World Cup showdown on Sunday afternoon. </p><p>The Filipinas will take on Norway in their final Group A game at the Eden Park in Auckland tomorrow, with a win taking them to the round-of-16 of the World Cup. </p><p>In a press conference ahead of the match, Stajcic was asked by Norwegian media about having &quot;two Norwegian players on your team&quot; -- referring to Sara Eggesvik and Meryll Serrano, whose fathers are Norwegian. </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/07/29/23/football-norways-ada-hegerberg-to-miss-game-vs-filipinas">Football: Norway&#x27;s Ada Hegerberg to miss game vs. Filipinas</a></li></ul><p>&quot;We have two Filipino players who spent a lot of their time in Norway. They&#x27;re not playing for Norway,&quot; Stajcic stressed. &quot;Obviously [they] spent a lot of their childhood in Norway.&quot; </p><p>Eggesvik traces her roots to Davao and spends her vacations there, while Serrano was born in the Philippines. Both players play club football in Norway and represented Norway in the youth level before being called up to the Philippine senior team.</p><p>Stajcic has repeatedly defended his players over questions about their heritage ever since he took over as coach of the Filipinas, and he did the same again for Eggesvik and Serrano on Saturday. </p><p>&quot;I&#x27;ve said many times, I don&#x27;t really care where they&#x27;re from … We don&#x27;t talk about individuals. We talk about the heart and spirit of our team and our nation and our flag that we play for, and the national anthem that the players sing,&quot; he stressed. </p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m really proud of the whole group. Sara, Meryll -- it&#x27;s irrelevant, really, where they grew up.&quot;</p><p>That 22 of the 23 players in the Filipinas&#x27; roster are from the diaspora has been a major talking point in the World Cup, but Stajcic and the team have shifted the focus onto their performances after a 1-0 upset of co-host New Zealand last Tuesday. </p><p>Eggesvik played a major role in that win, firing the cross that Sarina Bolden headed in for the Philippines&#x27; first ever goal in the World Cup.</p><p>They held on for the win, and will have a chance to play in the knockout stages should they get a favorable result against Norway on Sunday. Even a draw will be enough, should Switzerland defeat New Zealand in the other Group A match. </p><p>Eggesvik made it clear afterward that she is fully focused on the task at hand when they return to the field on Sunday.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s special since we play [against] Norway,&quot; said Eggesvik. &quot;But I will put that aside and when the game starts, I am playing for the Philippines. I&#x27;ll do my best to get the win, and to get points.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/27/23/filipinas-eggesvik-ready-for-norway-at-womens-world-cup">Filipinas&#x27; Eggesvik ready for Norway at Women&#x27;s World Cup</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/27/23/back-to-work-for-filipinas-after-historic-win-vs-nz">Back to work for Filipinas after historic win vs. New Zealand</a></li></ul><p>Meanwhile, Norway coach Hege Riise acknowledged that Eggesvik and Serrano&#x27;s familiarity may be a factor. Riise is well-versed in Serrano&#x27;s game, having coached her in LSK Kvinner.</p><p>&quot;She played for me when I was a club coach,&quot; said Riise of Serrano, who has yet to feature for the Filipinas in the World Cup. &quot;She&#x27;s a good technical player, good sense of humor. And always fun to discuss tactics and football.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Both of them, we know quite good,&quot; she also said. &quot;It&#x27;s funny when we talk tactics, we need to be careful because they will know what we&#x27;re saying, so we will have some sign.&quot;</p><p>Kick off is at 3:00 p.m., Manila time.</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=2740178" 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>

Philippines coach Alen Stajcic was quick to shut down the notion that he has 'two Norwegian players' in his squad, ahead of a crucial FIFA Women's World Cup showdown.

Stajcic on Eggesvik, Serrano: 'They're not playing for Norway'

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Stajcic on Eggesvik, Serrano: 'They're not playing for Norway'

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 29, 2023 10:19 PM PHT

Read More:

football

FIFA

FIFA Women's World Cup

PWNFT

Filipinas

Norway

Alen Stajcic

Sara Eggesvik

Meryll Serrano

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