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Olympic Champions End Football Ferns Dream For Now
by Jeremy Ruane
Reigning Olympic champions the USA produced a strong performance to overcome a tenacious but tired Football Ferns combination 4-0 at the Wulihe Stadium in Shenyang on August 12, dashing the New Zealand team’s dream of advancing to the quarter-finals of the 2008 Olympic Women’s Football Tournament.
The USA got off to the best possible start, creating a new record for an Olympic Women’s Football Tournament by scoring the opening goal after just 42 seconds.
Jenny Bindon’s goal-kick saw Ali Riley outjumped by Lindsay Tarpley, and Heather O’Reilly burst onto the loose ball before sending a shot sailing over the head of the fast-retreating Bindon and into the back of the net.
Having gained the ascendancy so early in the piece, the reigning Olympic Women’s Football champions set about trying to build on that advantage, but met stubborn resistance, as the black-clad Kiwis defended stoically in the face of a steady stream of American raids.
In the fourth minute, Lori Chalupny and Angela Hucles combined on the left for Tarpley’s benefit, the flank player getting past Ria Percival before whipping in a cross which Bindon pawed to safety.
Seconds later, a Percival clearance was charged down by Amy Rodriguez, who volleyed over the crossbar. Soon after, Carli Lloyd set her sights from thirty yards - just wide, a feat matched by midfield partner Shannon Boxx in the fourteenth minute, after Tarpley had got on the wrong side of Riley.
On the quarter-hour, a raking cross-field ball from Christie Rampone sent Tarpley scything inside Percival from near the by-line. From an acute angle, she unleashed a fierce drive which cannoned off the outside of Bindon’s near post to safety.
Four minutes later, Heather Mitts, Lloyd, O’Reilly and Boxx combined on the right, with the last-mentioned whipping in a low cross from the right. Rodriguez was foiled at the near post by Abby Erceg, with Bindon quickly thwarting any prospects the striker had of converting the rebound.
By this stage, the Football Ferns were beginning to get a toe-hold in the game - it was crumbs from the rich man’s table initially, but the appetite for more quickly developed.
Riley’s right-wing raids offered promise, while there were even glimpses of half-chances for Amber Hearn, the tireless Emma Kete and Kirsty Yallop, but each opening was just as quickly slammed shut by a US defence in which captain Christie Rampone was imperious.
And after Bindon’s aerial authority had prevented Rodriguez from taking advantage of O’Reilly’s ball forward, the Kiwis engineered a genuine opening in the 37th minute. A crunching tackle on Lloyd by Kete gifted possession to Katie Hoyle, who surged forward before lashing a twenty-five yarder narrowly over the crossbar.
This gave the Football Ferns hope, and after Rachel Buehler had hooked a Riley cross to safety, captain Hayley Moorwood got the better of Boxx in midfield and played the ball wide for the Stanford University star, who swiftly linked well with Hoyle and Rebecca Smith in the 41st minute.
The US-born defender promptly picked out Kete with her ball forward, and the striker laid the ball into Hearn’s path. Her thirty-yarder troubled Hope Solo little, but the idea that the Football Ferns were improving as the game went on was hard to ignore.
Hence what happened next was a brutal body-blow for the young pretenders against their vastly more experienced rivals. Solo bowled the ball out to Buehler, who promptly launched a sixty-yard ball downfield from just outside her penalty area.
Racing onto it was Rodriguez, who took the ball on in her stride and lashed a first-time volley beyond the back-pedalling and diving figure of Bindon into the far corner of the net - 2-0.
Such was New Zealand’s momentum that they were able to mount another attack before the break, and once again, Riley was at its heart. Her cross for Hearn was cleared back to Riley by Rampone.
This time, Kete was picked out by the impressively performed flank player, only for Mitts to step in. Both Moorwood and Hoyle were unable to capitalise on her clearance, and the half drew to a close with the Football Ferns facing an enormous task if they were to qualify for the quarter-finals.
They began the second half brightly - the spirit in this team is indefatigable. Initially, it was the USA who attacked, however, the solidly performed Marlies Oostdam scything down O’Reilly with a tackle which had referee Dagmar Damkova reaching for her yellow card before the American had even hit the deck.
The free-kick O’Reilly delivered initially wasn’t cleared, but just as Lloyd was preparing to pull the trigger, in stepped Moorwood to calmly avert the danger.
Cue the Football Ferns’ response. Kete and Hearn linked with Yallop to play Oostdam in down the left, with the overlapping fullback’s cross, intended for Kete, being grabbed at her near post by Solo.
The ‘keeper then grabbed a thirty-yarder from Hoyle, after Yallop had swooped on a loose ball. The former NZ U-20 captain then charged downfield in the 53rd minute before slipping Hearn through a square US back-line, leaving the striker with just Solo to beat.
How many times Hearn will replay what happened next in her head I dread to think. Basically, she got caught in two minds between taking a touch and shooting first time, and ended up bottling a glorious chance to put the Football Ferns on the scoreboard against the world’s top-ranked team.
Solo was relieved to gather the ball so easily, while Hearn’s anger with herself soon bubbled over - a needless booking for back-chat materialised just two minutes later. And from the resulting free-kick, the USA hit their young rivals where it hurts again.
Tarpley gathered the ball on the left, cut inside and let fly. Bindon blocked superbly at close quarters, with the rebound flying to Rodriguez. Her attempt to score was blocked by the combined efforts of Oostdam and Erceg, but Tarpley was following up on this rebound, and launched a fiercely struck volley high into the net - 3-0, after 56 minutes.
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Four minutes later, the USA made it 4-0. Lori Chalupny careered down the left before lashing a twenty-five yard screamer over Bindon. The ball cannoned off the crossbar and ricocheted into the path of Hucles, whose volley on the turn had the sting taken off it by the goalkeeper, but not the spin, which took it over the line.
Football Ferns coach John Herdman, fearing a rout, quickly reshuffled the pack, and switched formation to a 3-4-3 mix upon introducing Anna Green and Olympics debutant Kristy Hill.
It stemmed the tide, with Hill in particular catching the eye with her determined defensive display. But an occasional lapse, such as Yallop’s in the 71st minute, presented the USA with an opportunity to increase their lead still further.
Lloyd caught the Kiwi midfielder in possession and thundered downfield before smashing a twenty-yarder at the target. Bindon was right behind it, much to her team-mates’ relief.
In an effort to break down the Football Ferns’ new-found resolve, USA coach Pia Sundhage turned to her bench. It’s quite a luxury to have one of the best passers of a ball in the women’s game to call upon in such a situation, and Aly Wagner wasted little time in making an impact in her first appearance at these Olympics.
Her first touch was an inch-perfect ball into Hucles’ path. Smith thwarted the striker on this occasion, but seconds later, Wagner was in possession again, this time providing a slide-rule pass into Natasha Kai’s stride. Bindon saved splendidly at the substitute’s feet.
Six minutes from time, Lloyd and Boxx linked delightfully, and brought Wagner into play once more. Hucles looked to latch onto another measured pass, but Hill read the situation superbly to deny the Americans on this occasion.
Four minutes later, Wagner sprayed the ball wide for Hucles once more, and this time the striker got the better of Hill before fizzing a low cross right across the six-yard box. Erceg, in her desperation to clear the sphere, nearly turned it into her own net - she diverted the ball a foot past her own post.
The Kiwis, having contained their rivals following the double-change just after the hour mark, had the final word on attack as the game drew to a close, with substitute Rebecca Tegg combining with Kete to unleash Green down the left.
Her angled cross-shot rattled the side-netting by Solo’s right-hand post, the final act in the Football Ferns’ Olympic dream for 2008, which was ended emphatically, 4-0, by the reigning gold medal holders, whose pursuit of a third such honour in four Olympics continues thanks to this win - defeat would have seen the USA bow out.
"For me, it was a confidence thing for the USA", said Football Ferns coach, John Herdman, afterwards, "and I think that goal in the first minute relieved a lot of pressure for that team. That early goal was their godsend tonight.
"They showed that they could get back to their goalscoring ways tonight against what has been quite a resolute New Zealand team. So they were able to break down quite a strong team tonight, and that surely would send a sign out to the other countries that they are a good show for a gold medal again".
Kirsty Yallop, whose saturated all-black kit belied another less obvious opponent the Football Ferns faced tonight - the heat, reflected on the team’s feelings after conceding the first goal so soon after the kick-off.
"I think we were a little bit shocked, to be honest. We weren’t expecting an early goal like that for them - we were going for that ourselves! We were obviously disappointed, but we had to pick it back up and get back in the game, which I think we’d done by the end of the half.
"Throughout the second half they got on top of us and we weren’t able to produce the quality that we needed to to come back again".
After the match, some of the squad members briefly reflected on the Olympic experience as a whole. Rebecca Smith spoke for many when describing it as "amazing, incredible. Disappointed tonight, but well worth it".
Rebecca Tegg’s thoughts were in similar vein. "It’s pretty amazing", she chuckled. "Good times, definitely. We’ll be back and we’ll be better next time".
"It was awesome", said Kirsty Yallop. "Just makes us want more next time", to which Katie Hoyle chimed in. "The World Cup first, of course, but the next Olympics is our Olympics - we’re going to dominate there!"
Anna Green reflected on the night’s proceedings. "We made them look good. We didn’t keep possession, and they just played". "Really well", said Hoyle and Yallop in unison. "They only had about six shots and scored four goals - very clinical".
"It was one of the best", said Jenny Bindon, before Ali Riley chimed in. "I can’t really put it into words. It was a really good experience. I think the team’s learned a lot, and we’ll be ready for the World Cup in three years, and in four years, another Olympics. Now we’re going to win the National Championships with Stanford - that’ll be the silver lining!"
The final words, fittingly, come from the captain, Hayley Moorwood. "It wasn’t the way we wanted to go out, but overall, we did ourselves proud. We had a couple of good performances, and I think we shocked a few teams.
"We came in as the underdogs, and I think we opened a few eyes just with our first two displays. Hopefully the public back home can see what we’re about, and I hope we can continue on with our journey through to the next World Cup (in Germany in 2011)".
New Zealand: Bindon; Percival, Erceg, Smith, Oostdam (booked, 46) (Hill, 64); Riley, Moorwood, Hoyle (Green, 64), Yallop; Hearn (booked, 55) (Tegg, 74), Kete
USA: Solo; Mitts (Cox, 63), Rampone, Buehler, Chalupny; O’Reilly (Wagner, 76), Lloyd, Boxx, Tarpley; Hucles, Rodriguez (Kai, 57)
Referee: Dagmar Damkova (Czech Republic)
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