Filipinas make Stajcic 'proud' after last-gasp draw against Costa Rica
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine women's national football team drew the admiration of their head coach Alen Stajcic after a hard fought 1-1 draw against fellow 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup-bound team Costa Rica in their international friendly at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto on Friday (Saturday, Manila time).
Against a higher-ranked Costa Rican side, Katrina Guillou scored in added time to salvage a draw after the home team looked ready to run away with the win.
Guillou was able to tap the ball in off of a long ball from Filipinas keeper Olivia McDaniel as the latter hit a free kick from a game-delaying infraction by Michelle Montero.
Clear underdogs against the Central American team, Stajcic lauded his players for the effort in keeping pace with their opponents.
"Ninety minutes of our courage, hard work, lot of resilience. So defensively, I thought we were very good with limited possession in the game," Stajcic said after the match.
"On the flip side... our ability to keep the ball and pass the ball was not good enough tonight. We have to work really hard on that to improve our team. Work on our first touch and our passing, if we're gonna compete with good teams like this on their home, teams that are going to the World Cup," he added.
Though having to share imaginary points with their opponents in the friendly, Stajcic commended the Filipinas' spirit — especially considering that the team is nursing some injuries and health issues among the players.
"I'm really proud of the spirit of the group, the hard work of the group," said Stajcic.
Still, for the Aussie mentor, more needs to be done in time for the World Cup next year.
"We've said it many times, we know how much more harder we have to work, especially on the ball," he said.
Filipinas play Costa Rica anew on October 11 (October 12, Manila time) to wrap up their international friendlies for the October window.
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