Philippine Women’s National Team forward Sarina Bolden and midfielder Sara Eggesvik reflected on the moment that led to the Filipinas’ first ever goal in a World Cup match against hosts New Zealand yesterday at the Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand.
Off a free kick from Angela Beard, New Zealand were only able to clear the ball to the path of Eggesvik, who sent a right footed cross in to the path of Bolden, who out-muscled her way past two defender to nod it past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net in the 24th minute, sending the crowd in Wellington Regional Stadium, and all over the Philippines into celebration.
Bolden tried to deflect credit to her teammates, but the goal will be etched in Philippine football history.
“I will remember this one forever, for the rest of my life,” said goalscorer Bolden in a report from Spin.ph. “I’m so happy to be part of it and make history with my teammates, staff, and everyone involved.”
Meanwhile, Eggesvik was in tears after the match having been part of the historic win over the hosts.
“To prepare ourselves for the World Cup, and because we had played against really good teams, been in training camps, and lost a lot of games, but we still have the effort and keep fighting and (to) see what we can do I can’t believe what we have achieved,” said the midfielder in an article from Tiebreaker Times. “This was a team effort, even though it was one goal. I just feel so glad and grateful and proud of this team, of what we have achieved, and (how) we keep making history.
The Filipinas returned to their basecamp Auckland today in preparation for the crunch match against Norway on Sunday 30 July 2023 at Eden Park.