Living The Vision

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Living The Vision

Living The Vision

- Facing Up To “The Big One”

by Jeremy Ruane

Twenty-one of this country's foremost female footballers fly out on September 5 to realise their collective dream.

They're following in the footsteps of the 1982 All Whites and the 1991 SWANZ as only New Zealand's third senior national team to vie for the ultimate symbol of world footballing supremacy - the World Cup.

Be it the 18-carat solid gold trophy won by Italy last year, or the 23-carat gold-and-white-coloured pure silver prize for which the women will be competing in China, it's “the big one” in the eyes of those who have the opportunity to play for it.

Maia Jackman and Hayley Moorwood are no different in that regard. The “faces” of the women's game in this country are, like their team-mates, eagerly awaiting the chance to take on Brazil and Denmark in Wuhan, and China in Tianjin, as well as soak up the whole World Cup scene itself.

“Experiencing the whole atmosphere, the games, and playing against the world's best with twenty of your best mates and a great management team in a place I hold close to my heart”, says Maia, a former Chinese Women's Super League professional.

“It's something I'm looking forward to sharing with what we call our `second family'”, she continues, a theme on which Hayley picks up.

“Everyone gets along so well. There are friendships formed among the team that will last a lifetime. Each of the girls has sacrificed something along the way this year, but we all believe that those sacrifices need to be made in order to improve as a squad.

“Now it's up to us to go out there and `live the vision'. We've travelled a lot to be able to gain the international experience we need, which has been great - going on tour with the squad is always so much fun”, grins the 23-year-old midfielder.

“It shouldn't be ignored that we're a semi-young team”, Hayley continues, “and we are still building. I think if we continue to get the international games and international experience, then we will be able to not only compete, but belong on the world stage”.

Cue her 32-year-old team-mate. “Squad-wise, we all want to be credible, as we know we can be. Ideally, that will mean staying within one or two goals of our opponents, and maybe scoring an upset - anything's possible.

“John Herdman is awesome at pointing out the positives, and always talks about self-belief, and belief in teams. I started to see this aspect coming through in Australia. If we can get a grip on that side of things …”

The positivity and self-belief which Maia identifies as a growing strength in the squad is something from which Hayley has benefited during the preparations for China. “For me personally, they've been hard at times to be honest, but I wouldn`t give up this opportunity for anything.

“During the year I suffered my first major injury - a torn meniscus - and I definitely had my ups and

downs with it. My main concern was that I wouldn't be back in time for the World Cup after surgery, but I was determined enough not to let those negative thoughts get in the way of my recovery.

“In the end, I was really happy with the outcome - I was back playing four weeks after surgery, well before the World Cup dates”, neglecting to mention that those four weeks covered the break between the Canadian and Australian internationals.

“Getting those games against the Matildas in July was very important for our preparations”, chimes in Maia. “Going from Canada to the USA with nothing in between would have been too much of a stepping stone.

“The great thing was, in the second game in Australia, we were playing the way we wanted to play, and came close to getting a really good result. Another aspect of our preparations which stands out surrounds the whole feeling and culture of the team - it's really grown.

“We've gone from simply wanting to make the team, and each one doing what they could to realise that goal for themselves”, reflects the 37-times-capped international, “to doing things for the team and putting the team first.

“We're really creating a culture which will hold us in good stead. We've come up with a vision which is quite in-depth, and fairly exclusive to the team, a whole host of ideas which we've whittled down to a few paragraphs embracing China 07, Beijing 08 and beyond”.

The recent USA international allowed the squad to see at first-hand the benefits of such a culture, and it certainly made a big impression on Hayley. “It's no wonder they're top of the FIFA rankings. They are such a quality team. Their fitness level, passing range and accuracy, movement … all of it is world class.

“They read each other so well on the field, and their understanding of the game is amazing - it's what separates the USA from the rest, and that's why they're my tip to win it”.

“They're bloody good!!” declares Maia emphatically. “Their pool will be very interesting, with North Korea in there as well - far out! I think it'll be a very close call. It'll be interesting to see how Australia go, and then there's always a dark horse - that's us!”

For that to happen, one of Maia's personal objectives will come to fruition. “Making sure Han Duan, my Chinese friend, doesn't score against us is one of my goals, while another is making sure our strikers do find the net!”

Hayley nods in agreement. “We've had so many great times during this campaign, and scoring in China would add to them. It's not every day you get to go to a World Cup, so I just want to go out there and have fun, enjoy it, and get the most out of it that I can.

“Everyone has worked so hard and sacrificed so much this year. Now it's time to `live the vision'. It will all pay off”.

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup Finals