The underdog from the Philippines was difficult to play with. In the end, however, the Swiss were able to celebrate a 2-0 (0-0) win at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. It was an important mandatory victory in a difficult preliminary round group in which the other opponents come from Norway and New Zealand.
With an uncomfortable 9 degrees air temperature in Dunedin, the second largest city on New Zealand’s South Island, both teams needed a few minutes to get up to speed. The Philippines, who qualified for the World Cup by reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Cup 2022, initially entrenched themselves deep in their own half in a 4-4-2 formation.
Switzerland is struggling against defensive bulwarks
The Swiss, coached by former German goalscorer Inka Grings, struggled with this defensive bulwark. Accordingly, not much happened, a long-range shot by Geraldine Reuteler from 1. FFC Frankfurt (6th) that went well over the goal was the only thing worth seeing.
Until the shock for the Swiss in the 16th minute, when Katrina Guillou suddenly ran to the Swiss goal alone after a long ball to insert past keeper Gaëlle Thalmann to make it supposedly 1-0 for the Philippines. Luckily for the Grings team: The goal scorer was just offside.
Crnogorčević misses, Bachmann scores
It was a salutary shock, from then on Switzerland presented itself in a more concentrated and gripping way. In the 30th minute, Ramona Bachmann shone with a superb ball and a fine cross to Ana-Maria Crnogorčević, who had scored nine times in the World Cup qualifiers. But this time the tall striker missed, her header was too weak.
Coumba Sow (right) was fouled before the penalty kick.
The 1-0 should have fallen a little later. But Crnogorčević missed from six yards out, scooping a low cross over the crossbar with his long leg. And if it doesn’t work out of the game, a standard is needed. In the 43rd minute, defender Jess Cowart hit Swiss attacker Coumba Sow in the penalty area on the foot – after VAR intervention there was a penalty, which Ramona Bachmann safely converted to 1-0.
Penalty goal breaks the resistance
A hit that meant something like a preliminary decision – the Swiss became more confident, their opponents felt the impact of the hit. In the 64th minute it was 2:0: Seraina Piubel completed the shot from close range after the strong Bachmann had prepared again.
It stayed that way. And with a statistic that says it all: shots on goal Switzerland: nine. Shots on goal Philippines: zero. Switzerland will continue against Norway on Tuesday (25/07/2023, 10:00 a.m. CET). The Philippines will retry against co-hosts New Zealand from 7am CET on the same day.