WORLD CUP August 7, 2023 THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 13 The Women’s World Cup featured 8 new teams that treasured the experience gained on global stage By Zach Allen The Associated Press A UCKLAND, New Zealand — For Portugal coach Francisco Neto, his team’s accomplishment hit him during the national anthem. After all the preparation and 13 qualifying matches, Portugal, like seven other countries, made its debut at this year’s Women’s World Cup. Being here became real for Neto during the pregame ceremony before his side’s opening match July 23 against the Netherlands as “A Portuguesa” played. “The first time we heard the anthem,” Neto said, when asked a moment he cherished at the tournament. “It was our first World Cup,” he continued. “It was the first time we were there, and we could sing our song. So, I’m very proud of that moment.” The group stage was the source of enormous national pride for Portugal, the Philippines, Vietnam, Panama, Ireland, Haiti, Zambia, and Morocco, all new- Brain fog and other long COVID symptoms are the focus of new small treatment studies Continued from page 8 experiments that test one treatment at a time, these more flexible “platform studies” will let NIH add additional potential therapies on a rolling basis. “We can rapidly pivot,” Dr. Amy Patterson with the NIH explained. A failing treatment can be dropped without ending the entire trial and “if something promising comes on the horizon, we can plug it in.” The flexibility could be key, according to Dr. Anthony Komaroff, a Harvard re- searcher who isn’t involved with the NIH program but has long studied a similarly mysterious disorder known as chronic fatigue syndrome or ME/CFS. For exam- ple, he said, the Paxlovid study “makes all sorts of sense,” but if a 25-day dose shows only hints of working, researchers could extend the test to a longer course instead of starting from scratch. Komaroff also said that he understands people’s frustration over the wait for these treatment trials, but believes NIH appro- priately waited “until some clues came in about the underlying biology,” adding: “You’ve got to have targets.” The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content. comers to the highest level of international women’s soccer. The debutants played hard, played with spirit, and half of them picked up their first Women’s World Cup win. The debuting nations combined for five wins, two draws, and 17 losses. Morocco defied expectations and made the Round of 16 with a thrilling upset of Colombia on the final night of the group stage, but the rest of the newcomers were eliminated. “It’s (the) World Cup. The pressure is so high. We are growing inside the pressure, and that is amazing,” Neto said. “For our players, it is something we need to build because the media, the sponsors, the sup- porters — everything is different for us. We never have this kind of opportunity.” Just playing in the tournament is a step in the right direction. The newcomers were able to compete WORLD CUP NEWCOMERS. Sarina Bolden of the Philippines reacts after scoring her team’s first goal during the Women’s World Cup in a Group A soccer match between New Zealand and the Philip- pines in Wellington, New Zealand. The Filipinas’ supporters in Wellington erupted, while Bolden’s teammates tried to chase her down as she sprinted away in excitement. (AP Photo/John Cowpland) against some of the strongest sides in the world, many for the first time. Vietnam, for example, had never played any of the three teams — the United States, Netherlands, and Portugal — in its group until the Women’s World Cup. The 2023 edition of the tournament was the largest to date, expanding from 24 teams to 32 as women’s soccer continues to grow. It wasn’t planned that the expansion would feature eight new teams, it’s just the way qualification went. But it did give all the debuting teams a chance to learn. “In this process we have learned to com- pete,” Panama defender Wendy Natis said. “I don’t think it’s easy to be here. We went through several friendlies and preparation tournaments where we faced countries who are quite large in women’s football.” Zambia was the lowest-ranked team at the World Cup by a long way, No. 77 in FIFA’s world rankings. The Copper Queens didn’t get lucky with their group drawing either, having to play two top-15 ranked countries in Spain and Japan. Still, the Zambians were able to pull out a 3-1 win in their final game against Costa Rica, joining Morocco, the Philippines, and Portugal as the four newcomers to win a match. Portugal topped all debuting coun- tries with a ranking of 21st in the world. “It’s our first time being here and we are gaining experience day by day, we are improving day by day,” Zambian forward Continued on page 14