ATI-ATIHAN VS HAKA Big PH community in NZ to back Filipinas vs Ferns

By Peter Atencio

ALARGE crowd of fans from a supportive Filipino community will compete with New Zealand supporters cheering for their team when the Philippine national women’s football squad battles the NZ Ferns on Tuesday at the Sky Stadium in Wellington.

The Ferns and their fans will most likely dance the “Haka” before the game to try to psych up the hosts against the Filipinas before the match.

The Haka is a combination of vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment, of- ten performed by a NZ team before a game. But Filipino fans in Wellington are expected to show up with their own version of the Haka, with reports on social media describing Filipino supporters dressed up in traditional tribal costumes to counter the hosts.