GOOOAL FC Special: On 16 July 2024, the Singapore National Women’s Team hosted the Macau National Women’s Team for a Women’s ‘A’ International Friendly match at the Jalan Besar Stadium. The match ended SGPWT 9-0 MACWT but there are two sides to every story — so GFC got in touch with Oriana Wong, the Macau Women’s Team goalkeeper, and asked for her thoughts on the game.
Q: Could you briefly introduce yourself? How long have you been playing football and what do you do outside of football?
I’m Weng Hei Wong, but you can call me Oriana Wong. I am currently 20 years of age and I play overseas in England for Loughborough Lightning and Loughborough University. This coming season will be my 2nd season at Loughborough, competing in Step 4 of the Women’s National League in England. Previously, I played for AFC Bournemouth U21s while studying for my A Levels in 2021-2023.
I only started playing football when I was eleven. Back then, my first team was with a U14 Boys team because there was no Girls team I could join. I continued training and playing — this was when I felt the most joy — and I loved noticing improvements within myself. I then joined the Women’s National Team at 14 as my goalkeeper coach at Escola de Futbol Juvenil de Macau was the women’s goalkeeping coach.
We did not have many playing opportunities in Macau. I trained with the Women’s team, the U19 Boys team at my school as well as goalkeeping sessions with Ho Man Fai and Domingos Chan (Macau Men’s goalkeepers) at Macau CPK before getting the opportunity to play overseas.
Outside of football, I’m usually busy being a student-athlete at Loughborough University studying sports and exercise science. There honestly isn’t much downtime for me outside of football and my studies.
Q: Did you have any expectations going into the match against the Singapore National Women’s Team? How do you think you and your team fared in the game?
We brought the mentality to learn and to allow the younger players on our team to experience high-level football and see what football should be like. With the youngest player being 13 in our squad, we hope to slowly bring more younger players in and drip feed little by little for them.
Most of our players are new to the squad or have not had much game experience before. We knew Singapore would be a very strong opponent for us before heading into the match. We have been analysing Singapore’s previous games and worked on it in training. We knew we were not technically better as individuals so we had to rely on working as a unit and getting into good defensive positions as a team.
I believe we played our best football in the first half, especially the first 30 minutes. However, I believe we lacked experience and the physical capacity to last the game and allowed Singapore to break through and play balls into dangerous areas easily.
Q: Have you gained anything new from this experience? What are some things you will be taking back to Macau?
It is always an honour to be called up to represent my country. I am extremely proud of where I am from and to have their support behind my back. Before the game, I knew it would be a test of my mentality and character to deal with the pressure but I love being put under the spotlight.
I think a team like Macau is a special team to play with and learn from for me. I have to understand my teammates, learn how to adapt to a different style of play than I am used to and be able to step up and execute in key moments. The mental side of the game, the mental resilience especially as a goalkeeper, is what I learned the most.