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World's Best Too Good For Plucky Kiwi Women
by Jeremy Ruane
A plucky New Zealand women's team predictably proved inferior to the all-conquering USA combination at Chicago's Soldier Field on August 12, as the reigning Olympic women's champions downed John Herdman's young charges 6-1 in 38C heat as 7015 fans watched both teams' penultimate preparation fixture for the FIFA Women's World Cup Finals.
Just over a year ago, the All Whites played a similar fixture just prior to last year's FIFA World Cup Finals, when taking on reigning world champions Brazil in Geneva. The 4-0 scoreline that day flattered the beaten team - like the USA today, Brazil could have won by many more goals.
But it's the `1' in their scoreline from which the still-developing Kiwi women's team will take great encouragement, as not only is it New Zealand's first goal against non-Oceania-based opposition in over seven years, it has come against the country most favoured to prevail at China 2007.
The Americans came into the clash on the back of a forty-five match unbeaten run stretching back to November 2004, the sort of sequence of matches their inexperienced opponents can only dream about. And the host nation put that enormous chasm in class and composure to good use right from the outset.
Just seven minutes in, they were in front, a raking Cat Whitehill free-kick from the half-way line angled in behind the Kiwi defensive line to find Abby Wambach ghosting in unchallenged. She directed her header wide of Jenny Bindon to become the fifth most prolific markswoman in the rich history of US women's soccer.
From here on, the Americans continued to carve out chances on a regular basis, as their youthful opponents - three teenagers started the match - struggled to cope with the heat as well as the sheer intensity of the USA's play.
Their passing and movement made for captivating viewing, and it was as much as New Zealand could do to simply get bodies in the way at times in their efforts to stem the gold-shirted tide heading towards Bindon's goal.
The Belleville, Illinois, native, keeping goal for her adopted country in her home state's capital, dealt capably with Heather O'Reilly's shot on the turn in the eleventh minute, and looked on with relief ninety seconds later as Wambach's well-weighted cross on the run found Kristine Lilly diving to meet it with a header which she guided wide of the mark.
As was to be expected, the Kiwis were feeding on scraps, but all too often, they were guilty of conceding hard-earned possession almost immediately. A case in point came in the seventeenth minute, when Abby Erceg gave the ball to Lindsay Tarpley on the edge of the penalty area. Lilly, the recipient of her pass, lashed her shot past the post.
Erceg made amends for her error four minutes later with a super tackle on the world's most capped player, gender regardless. Lilly looked around in disbelief, as much to see who had nailed her in the penalty area as what referee Jennifer Bennett was going to award for the challenge.
A corner was the decision, not the first nor by no means the last the USA would be awarded in this match - they delivered sixteen in total. This one, by Stephanie Lopez, picked out the head of Tarpley, but Bindon tipped her effort over the bar in spectacular fashion.
Two minutes later, Tarpley was in again, this time riding a Ria Percival challenge on receipt of Wambach's lay-off. Her driven cross sought out O'Reilly, but the combined efforts of Erceg and Maia Jackman denied the striker.
The Americans weren't without the ball for long, though. Another raking ball forward by Whitehill found Wambach roaming down the right, outside Marlies Oostdam. She steered the ball inside for Lilly, whose twenty-yarder skimmed the crossbar.
The Kiwis were defending defiantly, while occasionally looking to make the most of the crumbs of possession which fell from the rich man's table. Ali Riley had her moments in this regard, but with Rebecca Tegg enjoying little change in attack, it wasn't long before the US regained the ball and sought to make best use of it.
On the half-hour, the hosts made a change to their line-up, and it says a lot for their strength in depth that as outstanding a talent as Carli Lloyd started off the bench, while another of their superstars, Aly Wagner, didn't even strip for this match.
Before the newcomer made her mark on proceedings, an old hand took the plaudits. Lilly and Tarpley worked a one-two on the edge of the penalty area in the 33rd minute, with the former groaning as Bindon got down well to smother her effort.
Revenge would be sweet for Lilly seconds later, however, as a wayward clearance by New Zealand's goalkeeper was pounced on by Tarpley. Wambach took over, and steered the ball into Lilly's path.
With New Zealand's captain, Rebecca Smith, snapping at her heels, and Jackman closing from the side, the US skipper coolly rode both challenges before calmly steering the ball beyond Bindon - 2-0 in the 34th minute.
After saving a Tarpley snapshot at the second attempt seconds later, Bindon was beaten all ends up in the 35th minute by a screamer from Lloyd, who commandeered possession in midfield and swept goalwards before pulling the trigger from twenty-five yards. The `keeper got her fingertips to the shot, but couldn't paw it away from the top corner of the net - 3-0.
The hosts threatened twice more before the interval, Bindon saving at the feet of Wambach on the first occasion, as the powerfully built striker ghosted in behind Erceg onto a Lloyd pass. And Lopez lashed a twenty-five yarder past the far post in stoppage time, after Jackman had headed a Whitehill throw-in to comparative safety.
The second half saw further pressure from the USA - that goes without saying, but also a more attack-oriented approach from New Zealand, the Kiwis having rid themselves of their sense of awe at being on the same pitch as the Americans during the half-time break.
Suddenly they were stringing a few passes together, and playing with a bit more confidence. Hayley Moorwood taking on Shannon Boxx, for instance - experience overcame exuberance on that occasion.
And, in the 53rd minute, a neat interchange between Smith and Emma Humphries which invited Riley to race through in pursuit of a through ball. Half-time goalkeeping substitute, Briana Scurry, was alert to the threat posed by the reigning NZ International Women's Player and Young Player of the Year, and saved at her feet.
The scoreline had changed again moments earlier, the USA having extended their advantage still further following a corner. Lopez's delivery picked out the head of Lloyd, whose cheeky curling effort had been thwarted by Bindon soon after the start of the half.
On this occasion, the player who took the 2006 Algarve Cup by storm saw her header blocked on the line by Percival. Quickest to react was Tarpley, who lashed the ball into the roof of the net to make it 4-0 after 52 minutes.
The scorer was denied by Jackman two minutes later, her clearance finding its way to Lopez, who promptly invited Wambach to shoot. Her drive flashed across the face of goal, while from a Lopez cross moments later, the game's first goalscorer saw her header cleared off the line by Priscilla Duncan.
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Bindon had endured plenty of work to date, and just shy of the hour mark, she was given a wee bit more from an unlikely source. Oostdam's wayward back-pass handed Tarpley a great chance to make it 5-0, but Bindon was off her line in a flash to block at the striker's feet.
The `keeper was given no chance on the hour mark, when the USA went nap with an innovative adaptation of the “Prince of Wales' Feathers” aerobatic routine, a regular feature of any display involving the world-famous Red Chequers flying team.
A free-kick was awarded out on the left, and Lilly hovered over the ball as five of her team-mates gathered in huddle-like fashion around the edge of the goal area. The skipper's delivery saw the target group peeling off in all directions, leaving the Kiwi defenders completely bemused. Little wonder Lloyd was unchallenged in heading into the top far corner of the net - a cleverly worked goal.
The USA eased off the throttle a touch at this point, the departure from the fray of midfield driving force Boxx a signal that they were content with their lot. It was also the opportunity the Kiwis had been waiting for, and over the course of the next ten minutes, they visibly grew in confidence.
As Boxx bid adieu, New Zealand's most capped active international, Wendi Henderson, entered the fray, and within a minute, she received a pass from Riley. The seasoned campaigner checked inside before shooting, the ball ricocheting off Tina Ellerton towards the target. Tegg instantly gave chase, but Scurry saved at her feet.
Unperturbed, the visitors tried again, six minutes later. Riley was again the instigator, her pass into the penalty area seeing Tegg do well to ultimately fend off Whitehill as the pair tussled over the ball. Ellerton stepped in to assist her team-mate, but the defender's clearance only found Riley once more.
The Stanford University student this time whipped over a cross towards Humphries, whose afternoon was about to come to a premature end. As she leapt for the ball, she found herself on the receiving end of a clattering challenge from Lopez, who didn't see the U-20 Women's World Cup Finals goalscorer in her eagerness to head clear.
Referee Bennett had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot, thus presenting New Zealand with the chance to end a seven-year-ache. They had last scored against non-Oceania-based opposition when netting against Japan at the Pacific Cup tournament in June 2000, an event the USA went on to win.
Looking on that afternoon in Sydney was a then-injured US native who, seven years later, was sporting the captain's armband of her mother's homeland in the country of her birth.
Rebecca Smith made no mistake from the spot, and the delight of the scorer and her team-mates was doubtless matched by those members of the New Zealand women's football fraternity watching the game on ESPN some 13,000-odd kilometres away.
It didn't do the team's confidence any harm either. And it's fair to say the USA weren't their usual unruffled selves during New Zealand's brief period of dominance. But true to form, the seasoned campaigners set about putting the precocious upstarts back in their place, only to encounter some defiant defending.
Jackman denied Natasha Kai in the 75th minute, while Erceg led from the front in dealing with a Lloyd free-kick six minutes later. Kai and Marci Jobson, substitutes both, had chances to alter the 5-1 scoreline inside the next five minutes, but only the former gave Bindon cause for concern with a tame effort.
Three minutes from time, another replacement, Leslie Osborne, fired in a free-kick which the generally well-contained figure of Wambach met with a header. Rebecca Sowden was on hand to clear off the line on this occasion.
In the ninetieth minute, Whitehill launched a long throw-in into the penalty area. Wambach re-directed it into Lloyd's path, and she jinked round Jackman before sending a fifteen yard drive crashing against the crossbar.
With virtually the last kick of the game, New Zealand's determination to avoid conceding a sixth goal was finally broken in cruel fashion. Lloyd was tackled by Jackman in the area, with the ball falling kindly for Kai, who let fly with a first-time effort.
Bindon had it covered, but Wambach, who was making a diagonal run to the near post, managed to scoop it away from the wrong-footed `keeper and past the despairing lunge of Erceg into the far corner of the net, thus wrapping up the USA's 6-1 victory.
US coach, Greg Ryan, was pleased with his team's performance. “I thought we took New Zealand quite seriously. We went after them, played very hard and created a ton of chances.
“For the first 65 minutes we played well, cohesively, and created a lot - that's our goal. We want to create as many chances as we can and finish as many as we can. The last twenty minutes was a low for us. I made a lot of changes in the second half and that took away a little bit from our rhythm”.
His opposite number, New Zealand's John Herdman, was upbeat about his charges' efforts. “There are lots of positives for us to take from this game. It's a great yardstick for our long-term development, because we've learnt lessons from the best today. The USA are good, really good. They're a class team.
“We don't get too many opportunities to play the likes of this sort of opposition, so this has been a great experience for the girls, and these results spur them on.
“We went out there trying to play - we won't be a team that continually looks to launch the ball forward. But when we've got possession, we have to play quicker, move quicker and be more precise - that's the biggest lesson to come out of today's game for us”.
Herdman also extolled the virtues of a few of his players. “Jenny Bindon made some great saves in periods, while Maia Jackman and Rebecca Smith knuckled down well. And the sight of Rebecca Tegg getting into space and Ria Percival dealing with Kristine Lilly was encouraging.
“But Abby Erceg did really well today. She was marking Abby Wambach for long periods and she relished the challenge - definitely one for the future.
“Our immediate future sees us playing FC Indiana (noon Wednesday, NZ time). Club teams are always difficult, because of the cohesion they can generate. It's a case of out of the frying pan into the fire, to some extent, as they've just won the WPSL National Championship.
“The players have to keep lifting themselves to new levels. I want to get tough games for the girls, and they're relishing them. And while the goal we scored today was a consolation for us, be assured we're pretty pleased with it”.
USA: Hope Solo (Briana Scurry, 46); Christie Rampone, Cat Whitehill, Kate Markgraf (Tina Ellerton, 46), Stephanie Lopez; Shannon Boxx (Leslie Osborne, 64), Heather O'Reilly (Carli Lloyd, 29), Lori Chalupny, Kristine Lilly (Marci Jobson, 79); Abby Wambach, Lindsay Tarpley (Natasha Kai, 64)
NZ: Jenny Bindon; Ria Percival, Maia Jackman, Abby Erceg, Marlies Potsdam (Wendi Henderson, 65); Emma Humphries (Michele Clarke, 74), Priscilla Duncan (Annalie Longo, 83), Rebecca Smith, Hayley Moorwood (Emily McColl, 65), Ali Riley (Rebecca Sowden, 84); Rebecca Tegg
Referee: Jennifer Bennett
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