Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 31) – Goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel etched her name in Philippine football history with her performance in the team’s World Cup clinching win against Chinese Taipei in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup quarterfinals.
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Although she failed to have a clean sheet after Taiwanese midfielder Zhuo Li-Ping equalized the game in the 83rd minute, the 23-year-old goalie played a significant role in the penalty shootout as both teams failed to break the tie in extra time.
As Chinese Taipei held a 3-2 lead in the penalty period, McDaniel was suddenly called up by head coach Alen Stajcic to try for a penalty kick.
“After the first five, he pulled me out and said come here and I said okay and he said I want you to take one. I said all right,” McDaniel said in a media session on Monday.
The California-born goalkeeper threw herself in the middle of the box and scored the equalizer as the ball went to the bottom of the net.
McDaniel recalled what went behind the penalty kick that ushered the team to qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“To be honest, I was more nervous to stop the PK (penalty kick) than to take the PK. I’ve been hitting PKs for forever, and I get no nerves when I go up and take a PK, because I know it’s gonna go in the back of the net,” said McDaniel, who is named Player of the Match after the game.
Teammate Sarina Bolden, who nailed the World Cup-clinching penalty goal, said she believed McDaniel will hit the ball straight to the net.
“Honestly the day we before, we were practicing PKs. Liv took it at practice and she’s just banged it in. There was no doubt on my mind that she’s gonna score,” said Bolden. “Keepers, in my opinion, are the best strikers because they are constantly shooting on the other goalies.”
The campaign for the Filipinas is not over as they are set to face South Korea in the semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 3.
