AUCKLAND. – What seemed like a quixotic quest at the start is now closer to reality as the Filipinas gun for a spot in the knockout round against a desperate and dangerous Norwegian squad on Sunday to cap Group A action in the FIFA Women’s World Cup at Eden Park here.
With so much on the line, the two squads tangle at 7 p.m. (3 p.m. Manila time), with an improbable victory by the overachieving charges of Australian coach Alen Stajcic propelling them into a new level of greatness in a team sport that has always been in the shadows of basketball and volleyball back home.
Which among the four teams will enter the knockout stage will also depend on the outcome of the game featuring New Zealand and Switzerland kicking off at the same time at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
Thanks to their 2-0 win over the Filipinas in the same arena last week, coupled with their scoreless standoff against Norway in Hamilton last Tuesday, the Swiss are on top of the standings with four points, the hosts in second with three points and a plus-1 goal difference, and the Filipinas with three points in third.
The Norwegian Gresshoppene (Grasshoppers), the pre-tournament group favorites who won the Women’s World Cup trophy in 1995, bring up the rear with one point.
In a post last Wednesday after the two matches were decided, FIFA.com came up with the following analysis of the possible outcomes emerging from Sunday’s pair of games in the wide-open group:
“Switzerland will qualify with a win or a draw against New Zealand. Defeat could even be enough, unless the Philippines beats Norway.
“New Zealand will qualify with a win but a defeat will see them knocked out. If the Football Ferns draw, they will qualify if the Philippines draw with Norway, but they will be out if the Filipinas win while a Norway win would leave their fate to be decided by the tie-breaking criteria.
“The Philippines will qualify with a win, but if it loses, they are out. If the Filipinas draw, they will qualify if Switzerland beat New Zealand, but they will be out if that match finishes in a draw, while a Football Ferns win leaves their fate to be decided by the tie-breaking criteria.
“Norway must win to have any chance of going through. If they lose or draw, they are out. Norway will be through if they win and Switzerland beat New Zealand. But their fate will be decided by the tie-breaking criteria if the Football Ferns win or draw with Switzerland.”
This explains why Stajcic was pensive at the post-match press conference with still five days ahead to the big game against the wards of coach Hege Riise, whose side is led by 2018 Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg.
Hegerberg, who plays for Lyon of France, remains doubtful after suffering a groin injury just before the Switzerland game.
“The job is not yet over and it is very important that we switch back into competition mode and think now about what we have to do in the last game to try and squeeze out of this group,” said Stajcic.
“This is such a monumental task for us to go up against them, especially when it is just the third game in a little over a week to recover physically, let alone from the emotion of tonight,” he noted of the challenge of regaining their focus after being on Cloud 9.
But he remained supremely confident of the Filipinas rising to the occasion anew, saying: “This team has gained a lot of tournament experience in the last 18 months, winning the AFF Women’s Championship (last year), an Asian Cup and two Southeast Asian Games.
“I think you’ve seen that maturity and growth not only in the way they play but also in the way they talk and carry themselves on and off the field. They know the drill.”
As the hometown Ferns sadly experienced, those underestimating the Filipinas do so at their own peril, as they try to sustain their stirring drive alive in the greatest women’s football show on earth.
