Olivia McDaniel heaped praise on her teammates after another heroic performance between the sticks for the Philippine women's national football team on Tuesday in the FIFA Women's World Cup.

McDaniel deservedly won Player of the Match honors in the Filipinas' stunning 1-0 triumph over co-host New Zealand at the Sky Stadium that made them the first debutantes to win a game in the 2023 edition of the tournament.

Sarina Bolden put the Filipinas ahead in the 24th minute, nodding in the ball off a Sara Eggesvik cross that caught New Zealand goal-keeper Victoria Esson off-guard. But the Philippines had to work hard for the clean sheet, with the Football Ferns aggressively pushing for an equalizer in the second half.

They very nearly got it in the 68th, when Jacqui Hand turned Hannah Wilkinson's cross into the net. The goal was nullified because Wilkinson was just a fraction offside in the build-up, however, as shown in a VAR review.

From there, McDaniel and the Filipinas' defense held firm, turning back the Football Ferns again and again. McDaniel produced her finest save in the 93rd minute, palming away a strike by Grace Jale that was inches close to becoming the equalizer.

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"Yeah, I mean, it means everything to us. I think we really put our head down, and we knew what was coming at us tonight," McDaniel said after the win. "We knew New Zealand was gonna come in hard off their momentum from their win against Norway."

"But you know, we put our head down, we came in focused. We had a goal in mind, and we achieved it, and you know, we couldn't have asked for better," she added.

She hailed the heart and the composure that they showed, particularly on defense. McDaniel was especially proud of how they managed to keep New Zealand at bay in the five minutes of additional time, when the hosts poured it on.

"They gave us their everything, they gave us their all, and all we could do was just get the ball out of there, and we did that," said McDaniel.

"They came at us and we kept it out the back of the net, and the last five minutes felt like 20 years. But, you know, it worked, so we were happy," she added.

As for getting the Player of the Match award, McDaniel said it was a trophy that belonged to the whole team.

"It feels amazing, and hopefully, this isn't the last accolade we achieve. This is a team win. This isn't just me, this is just what I've done. This is what the team's done," she said. "This is what the coaching staff has done, what everyone behind the scenes has done."

"You know, we've put in our work, and we've come out on top because of it. We can't stop now. We've got much more work to do."

The Filipinas' historic win, combined with the goalless draw between Switzerland and Norway later in the day, has thrown Group A wide open. All four teams are still capable of advancing to the knockout stage heading into the final match day of the group on July 30.

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