Playing in the World Cup with heart, the Philippines women footballers make history with first victory

Sarina Bolden is excited after scoring the Philippines first World Cup goal

Santa Clara-born Sarina Bolden made history when she scored the Philippines Womens National Football Team 's first-ever goal in the FIFA World Cup tournament.

The Filipinas beat co-host New Zealand 1-0 Tuesday (Monday, PDT) marked the first victory for the Philippines national football team, men or women.

Bolden, who plays professional in the Australian league, scored in the 24th minute with a header with a pass from Norway-born Sara Eggesvik, who plays professionally in Norway. Bolden was bracketed by two New Zealand players but she rose up to headbutt the ball to the net after the Ferns' goalkeeper Victoria Esson mishandled the ball. 

"I think they showed true heart, bringing out their puso, which means heart in Tagalog,” said Philippine coach Alen Stajcic in an interview after the upset victory.

Eighteen of the 23-member Filipinas were born in the US. Only one player was born in the Philippines. Others came from Germany and Australia.

It was not an easy match. The Ferns held a two-to-one edge in possession over the Philippines. New Zealand had numerous almost scores with the ball bouncing off the goal post or going wide. The Ferns kept the Filipinas goalie, Olivia McDaniel, had 14 goal attempts compared to the three attempts by the Filipinas, with one finding the net.

The 25-year old Laguna Beach-born goalie made one spectacular save in stoppage time by diving at a net-bound ball knocking it wide of the boal.

One ball did get past McDaniel but an offside call nullified what could have been a game-tying goal.

The Filipinas depended on their defense to keep the Ferns at bay. The swarming strategy of manager Alen Stajcic was to keep constant pressure on the ball handler.

WATCH: The Philippines team's game against Norway is scheduled for July 30, New Zealand time. Because of the International Dateline, that would be midnight, July 29 PDT for US viewers. Watch the match on FS1 network.

In their first matches, the Filipinas lost against Switzerland 0-2 and New Zealand upset Norway 1-0.

The Philippines victory puts them in a three-way tie in the four-team Group A. The top two finishers will move on to the round of 16 with a Norway-Switzerland match still to be played. In order for the Filipinas to continue their history-making run, they would have to pull another upset over Norway in their final Group A game. Switzerland would have to beat the Norway later today and follow that up a win over the Ferns.

It's a tall order and the odds are against the Filipinas, but the Philippines team has already surprised the soccer world just by qualifying for the World Cup followed by the upset victory versus New Zealand. Could they manage another surprise?

"We had some luck, but we also earned our luck," Stajcic said in a post-game media event. "For team sports, it would have to be one of the best achievements in the history of the country," 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.