Filipinas stay focused against crumbling Norwegians

Alen Stajcic
The national women's football team is blocking all outside noises and keeping its focus heading into a very crucial match against Norway in the FIFA Women's World Cup in Auckland, New Zealand.
Filipinas head coach Alen Stajcic, in fact, reportedly moved the media availability session from Thursday to Friday and ordered a closed-door training to make sure that nobody will get distracted ahead of their important battle against the Norwegians on Sunday at Eden Park.
Based on Group A standings, the Philippines has three points with a 1-0-1 win-draw-loss record following its 0-2 setback to Switzerland and 1-0 victory over New Zealand in the preliminaries of this prestigious 32-nation conclave.
The Norwegians, for their part, have one point after suffering a 0-1 loss to the Kiwis and 0-0 stalemate with the Swiss.
Trouble, however, is brewing at the Norwegian camp as star striker Ada Hegerberg, who plays for Lyon and winner of the inaugural Ballon d'Or Feminin in 2018, shockingly rushed to the dugout a few minutes before kickoff against the Swiss.
In a social media post, Hegerberg revealed that she felt discomfort right after the singing of the national anthem so she decided to seek immediate treatment.
The team's medical staff, however, advised her not to take any risk, reducing her into a mere spectator during their crucial game against the Swiss.
"I felt discomfort when sprinting right after the anthems," said the 28-year-old superstar who has been campaigning for Norway since for the past 13 years.
"We decided with the staff that no risk should be taken and no subs should be wasted in such an important game for us, and we all trusted Sophie (Roman Haug), Karina (Saevik) and the team to do the job which they did. We move on."
Aside from Hegerberg's last-minute departure, Caroline Graham Jansen also expressed disappointment when their coach, Hega Riise, dropped her from the starting roster during their match against the Swiss.
"I really feel like I've been dragged along for a whole year," the 28-year-old Graham Hansen told Norwegian broadcaster Viaplay after the game.
