07/11/96, 1-1 v. Papua New Guinea
Where do we go from here?
The title of Vanessa Williams' hit single from the movie 'Eraser' best sums up the mood of the women's soccer fraternity at present, after the 1-1 draw with Papua New Guinea at Anderson Park.
Words of dismay have been fired at me from any number of folk who were either at the game or aware of the result after perusing the following morning's Herald. They ranged from "absolutely appalled" and "disgusting" through to a very pertinent, yet worrying comment from a young player - no names - who, I believe, has great potential, providing she can sort out the problems currently hindering her career.
"If these are our best players, what hope have we got against stronger opposition in future internationals?", she asked.
Poor close control, purposeless passing, a lack of individuality, finishing of the highest disorder ... SWANZ coach Maurice Tillotson certainly hit the nail right on the head when he said, after the game, that they needed the workout!!
I, myself, was embarrassed. I felt as if I was a sports promoter who had done the job of building up the profile of the game, team, etc., only for the players to turn round and undo all that work with a performance of nightmarish proportions.
I mean, to draw 1-1, despite dominating the game, against Papua New Guinea, a country previously vanquished 5-0, 16-0, 11-0, 2-0 and 6-0 by the SWANZ - now that's really scraping the bottom of the barrel!!
But that's where we're at at the moment, though it pains me to say it. Perhaps the dreaded age issue needs to be redressed by Mr Tillotson, regardless of the accuracy, or
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otherwise, of quotes attributed to him in days past.
The likes of Lyn Pedruco, Tillotson's own selection as Player of the Year at Lynn-Avon United, New Zealand's Players' Player of the Year, Michele Cox, and the country's most-capped female international, Maureen Jacobson (who, incidentally, was unavailable for this match due to work commitments), have international experience and know-how which, in a country with the limited playing numbers New Zealand has at its disposal, is too profound to cast aside in order to keep abreast of world trends.
By all means, set a target of putting out a team with an average age of 25. But at the same time, make sure that the collective experience of the side, in terms of the average number of caps per player, is either equal to, or greater than, said average age.
Women's soccer struggles, as things stand, to gain credibility in a largely male-dominated sport. Results such as this latest effort - don't forget, an away draw is widely considered to be a moral victory! - further arode that hard-earned credibility, not to mention sponsorship prospects.
At the end of the day, though, when a potential international of the future starts asking the sort of question aired earlier, i.e. "What hope have we got?", we should all be concerned.
NB Papua New Guinea's performance was greeted with much celebration back home, this being the best result ever recorded by a women's sports team from that country. As well, their sponsorship arrangement was extended by a further three years on the strength of this one result!
For the record, Melissa Ruscoe found the target for the SWANZ in the 56th minute, equalising Nellie Taman's goal scored eight minutes earlier - that's right, the SWANZ were 1-0 down!!
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