Eating Sinigang soup with chopsticks would have been easier than beating Trinidad D’ Andrea on Matchday 4 of the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup™. Poland found that out to their peril. The goalkeeper’s heroics made Argentina the first nation to reach the knockout phase.
Morocco have a shot at joining them after rallying from behind to edge Philippines, whose early goals turned an electric atmosphere into a stratospheric one.
Argentina 3-2 Poland
Argentina goals: Silvina Nava (9), Agostina Chiesa (11), Lucia Rossi (15)
Poland goals: Aga Bala (22), Anna Choras (38)
Player of the Match: Trinidad D’ Andrea
Fourteen Poles were incredulous after 40 minutes at PhilSports Arena. It was because of one Argentinian. Poland had carried out Wojciech Weiss’s instructions to a tee. Aga Bala, Klaudia Kubaszek and Katarzyna Wlodarczyk had concocted shots repeatedly and put them exactly where they wanted them repeatedly. Time and time again, however, Trinidad D’ Andrea exasperated them with her preposterous reflexes.
“She’s living a dream. It’s a dream she never imagined happening this way. She deserves it. She knows she has our support. We know she’s back there as our guardian in every match.”
Carina Nunez on D’ Andrea
“It’s hard to believe what their goalkeeper did. We came so close to scoring several times, but she was absolutely amazing. It was incredibly difficult to score. It was hard to believe what she did. She’s a hero.”
Aga Bala, Poland winger
D’ Andrea made a staggering 19 saves. The 31-year-old became the second goalkeeper to be named Player of the Match at this tournament after Colombia’s Alisson Olave.
Philippines 2-3 Morocco
Philippines goals: Dionesa Tolentin (4), Cathrine Graversen (8)
Morocco goals: Nadia Laftah (10), Siiham Tadlaoui (14), Jasmine Demraoui (17)
Player of the Match: Meryem Hajri
Filipino fans are truly one of a kind. Dionesa Tolentin rewarded them for momentous support by scoring their first goal in this competition. Sarina Bolden, who bagged their maiden FIFA Women’s World Cup™ goal in 2023, was among the masses going nuts in the stands. The Moroccans leapt up off the canvas to score the KO they required, but couldn’t dishearten these wonderful hosts.
“I’m very happy, very proud to score the Philippines’ first goal in the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup. Just to play in front of our own fans was something else, but to score that goal in front of them, I can’t even express what it means.”
Dionesa Tolentin, Philippines pivot
“We were 2-0 down. We knew what we had to do to keep our dream alive, and thankfully we did it. I’m proud of the team. Now we have a final against Poland. We’ll give it everything.”
Jasmine Demraoui, Morocco winger
The result made Morocco the first team to come from behind and win a game in this competition.
