The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home
China Dec 1
Football Ferns Edge Ever Closer To Matching China
by Jeremy Ruane
Just over a year ago, New Zealand's Football Ferns took on China in a two-match series in Hangzhou which marked the start of their 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup campaign.
A largely raw and untried combination suffered 3-0 and 4-0 defeats on that venture, and it was somewhat fitting that when the Football Ferns bowed out of September's finals, they signed off against the same opponents.
China prevailed 2-0 in front of the biggest crowd of the tournament in Tianjin, a crowd which was largely silenced at half-time with the scoreboard reading 0-0, meaning the unthinkable - the host nation's failure to progress to the quarter-finals - was just forty-five minutes away from becoming reality.
The hosts of both the FIFA Women's World Cup Finals and the 2008 Olympic Games subsequently failed to make the semi-finals of the former event three months ago, a situation which ultimately saw them part company with Swedish coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors.
A new coach, former French mentor Elizabeth Loisel, was appointed to lead China's quest to claim a medal on home turf next August, and New Zealand was afforded the honour of a short-notice invitation to provide the opposition for her first internationals via another two-match series, this time in Guangzhou leading into Christmas.
So short has been the notice that the tour was announced last Monday, and the sixteen-strong squad was China-bound on Thursday morning, prior to two fixtures against the Olympic hosts, the second of which takes place on Wednesday evening, NZ time.
The first saw China maintain their recent winning sequence over the Football Ferns, but as the 1-0 scoreline suggests - a fifteenth minute goal separated the sides - John Herdman's young charges are edging ever closer to matching their more illustrious rivals on the scoreboard.
“The girls came off the pitch tonight shaking their heads in disappointment - they feel they should have had something out of that”, says the national coach. “It's the most competitive I've seen this squad in terms of shots and crosses - they were a pleasure to watch tonight.
“Simone Carmichael, for instance, shaved the post
|
with a curling effort, while Hayley Moorwood carried on from where she left off during the Women's World Cup Finals. And Emily McColl injected an amazing amount of energy when she came on.
“We changed tactics and stepped things up well in the second half, and played with a bit more confidence - we're starting to turn the corner belief-wise. What we've been talking about and working on off the pitch is now taking place on it, and the girls are working hard to achieve their goals. They certainly produced the goods for us today”.
Not having had the opportunity to prepare or train together prior to this tour, and dogged by the unavailability of a handful of players due to injuries and other commitments, Herdman opted to go with the bulk of the squad who performed with distinction in China three months ago for this pre-Christmas opportunity, despite many of them not having kicked a ball in anger since the Women's World Cup campaign.
“The New Zealand Olympic Games Committee are watching us with eagle eyes at present, ahead of our hoped-for involvement in the Beijing Olympics next August. So we've got to get results on this tour - the opportunity to experiment isn't an option.
“To compound matters for us, China went into this match having played four games against their Under-15 boys squad, the last of which they won 1-0. So this result … it's a real pleasure working with this group. They work so hard on improving themselves and their game, it's frightening”.
Given their lack of recent game-time, there are no plans to push the girls too hard in training ahead of Wednesday's clash with their hosts (kick-off 8pm NZ time in Guangzhou).
Herdman opted to start with six players aged under twenty in this encounter, and a similar line-up to that detailed below should sport the silver fern with pride in the Football Ferns' fifteenth and final “A” international of 2007, the busiest ever calendar year in the history of New Zealand's national women's team.
New Zealand: Bindon; Percival, Jackman, Erceg, Green (Carmichael, 46); Longo (Henderson, 65), Duncan (McColl, 30), Moorwood, Humphries, Riley; Smith
Non-playing substitutes: Clansey, Ray
The starting line-up is pictured left.
|