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China
We Wuz Robbed ... Again!
by Jeremy Ruane
The Football Ferns' FIFA Women's World Cup campaign ended in tears, disappointment and controversy at the Winnipeg Stadium on 15 June, as in a match they needed to win to advance to the knockout phase, they were held to a 2-2 draw by China in front of 26,191 fans.
Those fans witnessed some decidedly dubious decisions by Hungarian referee Katalin Kulcsar, some Chinese gamesmanship which saw their coach, Wei Hao, sent from the bench late in the contest, and a delay in play due to a Chinese fan invading the pitch.
They also witnessed an absorbing yet highly entertaining encounter between two nations whose hopes of progressing to the next round of the competition hinged on the outcome of this match, and of the other game in the group taking place at the same time - Canada and Holland drew 1-1, as things turned out, meaning the host nation topped the group, while the Dutch will almost certainly advance as one of the best third-placed teams.
China began the clash with a hiss and a roar, Erin Nayler tipping a Shanshan Wang volley round the post just three minutes into play. From Lisi Wang's resulting corner, Shanshan Wang headed goalwards, but Nayler was once more her nemesis, pawing the ball away.
The Football Ferns soon got into their stride, Betsy Hassett's inspirational raid down the left in the sixth minute the catalyst for the black-clad New Zealand team to start working through the gears.
A teasing Ali Riley cross in the twelfth minute dangled just too far in front of the incoming Hannah Wilkinson for her to exploit, while after Hassett had chased down Guixin Ren after being sold short by a pass from Katie Duncan, Amber Hearn fired a twenty-five yarder past the post in the eighteenth minute as Tony Readings' charges began to gain the ascendancy in this engaging tussle.
In the 22nd minute, Hearn, Hassett and Longo combined through the middle, with the last-mentioned going down in the area after working a one-two with Hassett. Referee Kulcsar saw no offence, but China could only clear the ball as far as Wilkinson, whose cross was sliced wildly away by Rong Zhao.
Moments later, Hearn slalomed past three opponents before seeing her shot blocked on the edge of the area, while Riley, Hearn and Longo - later named FIFA's Player of the Match - teamed up in the 25th minute, with the last-mentioned skipping past three challenges in the area before picking out Sarah Gregorius with a cross from the by-line.
China managed to outnumber the speedster on this occasion, but the Football Ferns' pressure continued unabated soon after, with Duncan and Riley combining down the left. The fullback's cross to the near post found Wilkinson flying in to meet it, only for Dongna Li to scramble the ball away for a corner.
From it, the Football Ferns deservedly opened the scoring, albeit via an unlikely source. Ria Percival's corner arced over all-comers to the far post, where Rebekah Stott - 22 in two days' time - afforded herself an early birthday present with a blistering half-volley which scorched between the defender and the upright before crashing into the back of the net.
China sought a swift riposte, with Lisi Wang's 33rd minute free-kick being tipped over the bar by Nayler, the first time she had been called into action since the first five minutes of the match.
Normal service soon resumed, Longo linking with Percival in the 38th minute. The fullback's cross to the far post found Hearn soaring above her marker, but unable to direct her header on target.
Five minutes before the interval came a decision which simply defies logic. Peng Han picked out Lisi Wang with a cross, prompting the midfielder to cut inside and let fly. Her shot cannoned off Hassett's body, but referee Kulcsar deemed she had handled the ball …
Replays clearly showed the official had got it wrong, but no amount of protesting would change her mind, and when Lisi Wang drew China level from the spot, it was hard not to feel for the Football Ferns, the victims of a decidedly unjust decision.
Before the interval they looked to regain the lead via a Percival free-kick. Goalkeeper Fei Wang punched the delivery out of the immediate danger area, but Stott lobbed the ball back into the danger zone, where Hassett was unable to execute an ambitious overhead kick with the last act of note in the half.
The Football Ferns introduced both Katie Bowen and Rosie White for the second half, but it was the fullbacks who provided the first threat on goal, three minutes after the resumption. Percival and Riley worked a one-two from a corner which saw the former unleash a driven cross-shot which Fei Wang did well to punch clear.
Four minutes later, Abby Erceg went down with an ankle injury following a tough challenge, and while she was able to return to the fray, China looked to exploit the Football Ferns' numerical disadvantage via a surging run into the area by Ren.
She got past two opponents, but Bowen wasn't in the mood to be beaten, and averted this threat and that posed by the aftermath of the resulting corner, Nayler having punched Lisi Wang's delivery out to Shanshan Wang.
On the hour, China took the lead. Ruyin Tan played the ball wide to her captain, Haiyan Wu, whose cross arced over the head of Erceg. Nipping in behind her was Shanshan Wang, who just beat Nayler to the ball in the air to head the "Steel Roses" ahead.
Their advantage lasted just four minutes, and once more, Longo led the charge, riding tackles and jinking this way and that before threading a pass through to the overlapping figure of Riley.
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She delivered a cross from the by-line to a spot beyond the far post where Hearn was arriving on cue. The number nine directed her header back into the goalmouth, where Wilkinson executed the perfect hip-turn volley from four yards - 2-2, with 64 minutes on the clock.
Knowing that a draw wasn't enough to progress, the Football Ferns piled on the pressure, and there was only one team in it attack-wise for the bulk of the time remaining. Bowen led the charge in the 68th minute, working a one-two with Wilkinson before looking to pick out White with a cross.
Fei Wang punched this threat to safety, then kept out a rasping twenty-five yarder from White, who linked with Longo soon afterwards to present Riley with another chance to cross to the far post. Wilkinson was lurking with intent, but China's goalkeeper has impressed in dealing with aerial threats throughout the tournament so far, and didn't let herself down on this occasion.
China spurned a great chance to regain the lead fourteen minutes from time. An Erceg clearance got as far as Shanshan Liu, seconds after she had been booked for time-wasting. The defender sent Lisi Wang rampaging down the right, from where she picked out Shanshan Wang with a cross. The striker, at full stretch, steered the ball past the far post.
Back came Oceania's champions, Longo once more at her impish best, with three more opponents left in her wake in China's penalty area. Her shot was blocked for a corner, which Percival delivered onto the head of Erceg. Her goalbound effort was headed to safety by Liu with twelve minutes remaining.
Seconds later, Hearn and Longo combined on the right, with the latter delivering an inch-perfect cross onto the head of Wilkinson. At the precise moment she rose to meet it, Fei Wang plucked the ball off the striker's head - a timely intervention by the 'keeper which only served to increase the Football Ferns' frustration.
Cue a sixty-second delay to proceedings eight minutes from time, when a Chinese fan raced through the technical area and onto the pitch. He proceeded to lead security a merry dance until finally being caught, but his antics had the desired effect, in terms of disrupting the Football Ferns' momentum.
Two minutes later, Chinese substitute Shuang Wang took a free-kick, lobbing it towards goal. Shanshan Wang met it with her thigh, the ball arcing up and over Nayler en route to the top corner of the net, until the 'keeper produced a superb one-handed save to keep the ball out, much to the despair of the watching red wall of Chinese supporters behind her goal.
Prior to this, the Asian team had started going through the gamesmanship book page by page, employing all sorts of tactics to preserve the 2-2 scoreline, knowing that it would enable them to advance from the group and send the Football Ferns home.
Shuang Wang proved particularly disruptive in this regard, twice standing over the ball to prevent quick free-kicks from being taken. On both occasions, she was forcefully shoved aside by Erceg and Duncan respectively, actions which earned two of New Zealand's four centurions yellow cards. Thankfully, the principal offender also received one, presumably for persistent infringement.
Coach Wei Hao had already been warned by referee Kulcsar for his antics when, as the game entered stoppage time, he prevented Percival from taking a quick throw-in. Away from the dug-out for you, young man, and don't spare the horses.
Of course, the latter part of that phrase was ignored by Hao, who milked the incident for all it was worth as he trudged to the dressing rooms entrance. Little wonder Football Ferns coach Readings declined to shake Hao's hand post-match, having just seen his side cheated out of a spot in the knockout phase thanks in part to China's unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Their premature departure also has its roots in refereeing decisions which have gone against them in group play - the penalty which never was in this match, and two strong claims denied them in the opening game against Holland.
Granted, had Hearn converted the spot-kick earned in the clash with Canada, things would be completely different. Indeed, all four teams in the group could have finished on four points had that shot gone in, and the drawing of lots would have been required to determine all placings, with China and New Zealand vying for first and second, and Canada and Holland for third and fourth.
That is a measure of just how close this group was. Sadly, the Football Ferns find themselves propping up the standings following its conclusion, but there is no way you will convince this writer, nor the vast majority of the near-115,000 fans who've watched them over the past fortnight, that they were the worst of the four teams in Group A. No way on earth.
October, and the two-legged play-off to determine Oceania's representatives at the 2016 Olympic Women's Football Tournament in Rio de Janeiro, is the Football Ferns' next scheduled assignment.
You can rest assured this team will use the memories of Canada 2015 to both galvanise them and spur them on over the course of the next twelve months. Right now, the sense of injustice, of having been robbed - again - is very very strong indeed.
China: F. Wang; Wu, Zhao, D. Li, Liu (booked, 75); Tan, Tang (Shuang Wang, 72 (booked, 86)), Ren; L. Wang (Y. Li, 90), Shanshan Wang, Han (Lou, 83)
Football Ferns: Nayler; Percival, Stott, Erceg (booked, 83), Riley; Hassett (Bowen, 46), Duncan (booked, 86), Hearn, Longo; Wilkinson, Gregorius (White, 46) (Yallop, 89)
Referee: Katalin Kulcsar (Hungary)
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