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Olympics Preview
"We Want To Win A Game!"
by Jeremy Ruane
"We want to win a game!"
That's the prime objective for New Zealand's Football Ferns at the upcoming Olympic Women's Football Tournament, according to coach Tom Sermanni.
One of the most experienced coaches in international women's football - he has taken charge of two of New Zealand's group opponents in years gone by, the softly-spoken Scot is under no illusions that his team's target is a tough one.
But it's one he firmly believes they can achieve. "Normally I'd talk about performing and being competitive, but our aim is to win a game at a major tournament against quality opposition. If we do, we stand a good chance of progressing".
To do that, however, the Football Ferns will have to overcome one of their biggest issues in recent times, one about which Sermanni is all too well aware. "New Zealand hasn't been a team that has gone to tournaments and scored goals, and our opponents in Japan won't give us many opportunities.
"With that in mind, it could have been a more favourable group! Sweden and the USA are very solid defensively, while Australia have leaked a few goals of late", he said of a side which has shipped five goals at the hands of both reigning Olympic champions Germany and Women's World Cup runners-up Holland, and a further three from Denmark, in their warm-up fixtures for Tokyo 2021.
"We've got to find ways to be competitive and create chances to win games", Sermanni continues. "It's a combination of myself and the staff getting the tactics right, the solutions right, and everyone on the pitch turning up on the day. If we do that, we can be competitive, and win games".
Games are something which, thanks to Covid-19, have been conspicuous by their absence for the Football Ferns since they last kicked a ball in anger at the 2020 Algarve Cup, even those of the preparation variety, as Sermanni explains.
"It's been challenging getting games prior to the Olympics because teams are changing schedules all the time because of Covid restrictions. We're hopeful of securing at least one match before the event, however".
Almost 500 days will have elapsed by the time the Oceania champions take on Australia's "Matildas" at the Tokyo Stadium from 11.30pm NZ time on July 21, something which doesn't concern Sermanni greatly.
"It is what it is. Although we won't get the entire squad together until July 12, the advantage we've got is that these players have played together for a long time. As well, the overseas-based contingent are in full-time environments, so will be match-fit.
"The cohesive environment around the team allows newcomers to settle in quickly, and giving opportunities to players starting to come through is one of our biggest challenges".
That environment was one which prompted Sermanni's appointment as Football Ferns coach, his predecessor having severely disrupted it by endeavouring to implement a series of changes which, it's fair to say, never had the players' best interests at heart.
"The programme hadn't been functioning properly for at least a year prior to my arrival. So I was appointed to help bring back some stability to it, and get things back on an even keel.
"The team has been able to put in some good performances at various times since then, and has had some decent results. The players now feel they are back in an environment they want to be in, one which feels positive.
"That was certainly the feeling at the 2020 Algarve Cup, which was the most positive the team had been from the footballing side of things since my appointment eighteen months prior. We felt that we made a step forward there, then Covid came along".
That which has disrupted all our lives has certainly done the Football Ferns no favours, as they haven't even been able to gather as a group since March 2020, never mind kick a ball in anger on the world stage.
How has Sermanni coped with it? "It has been challenging, and some elements arising from it have been nigh on impossible to address. There have been a whole range of uncontrollables - it's very much out of your hands.
"It's been more challenging for New Zealand than any other country. We face a unique set of challenges because of the Covid restrictions and our geographic isolation. The only players who've been in an environment for working with are those domestically based or across the Tasman.
"Indeed, the only country similar to us football-wise, in terms of Covid, is Australia, but they've managed to overcome some of the problems we've had, with the "Matildas" having played some games against European opposition during the past few months".
Covid won't be going away anytime soon, of course, and it's just one of the challenges facing New Zealand Football, and the women's programme in particular, going forward. It's not the only one, however, as Sermanni outlines.
"The Elite Development Programme presently in place isn't sufficient at elite level. The whole structure of the women's game here needs to be looked at, and some real planning needs to be put in place for the generations to come.
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"What do we need to do to develop players going forward? That's the biggest and most significant challenge of many", says a man who's been involved in the women's game from a time when few took it seriously.
"The women's football landscape globally has changed out of sight, even in the last six years. The interest and investment in the game has gone through the roof - which is terrific!
"The investment in Europe particularly, and even in areas such as South America, makes the future really challenging for New Zealand, due to our geographic location, small population, other major female sports and financial constraints.
"We need to try to overcome all of these things and develop players in an elite environment sense. It's a very critical thing which NZ Football, and the game as a whole here, needs to address if the country is to remain competitive on the world stage".
Sermanni won't be a part of that future, as he's stepping down from the Football Ferns role following the conclusion of our Olympics campaign, having fulfilled his prime objective of getting things back on track after the nightmare of the previous regime.
"It's important now for the team to try to put in better and more consistent performances. That is key, particularly at major tournaments. What springs to mind instantly in this regard is our last game at the 2019 Women's World Cup Finals in France.
"The Cameroon game is the most frustrating fixture of my time in charge, as it's one we should have won. If certain aspects of our performance in the last fifteen minutes had been better, we would have done so.
"I've had a few such outcomes with other countries which haunt you a bit, and you get frustrated with them", reflects the long-serving gaffer, whose coaching duties haven't been confined to the women's game - coaching the Canberra Cosmos team in Australia's NSL, the predecessor to the A-League, is among numerous jobs he's had in the men's side of the code.
"Every coach has had these experiences. But I've been blessed to enjoy many good ones too. The Matildas job is probably the one I achieved most in - I was very fortunate to be in at the start of that programme in the mid-90s, while when I got that job second time around, they'd moved into Asia - an exciting time".
And is Sermanni looking forward to life post-Olympics? "To be honest, I don't know what's next. If at the end of this job my career finishes, I'll be thankful for having had a tremendous run.
"I've gone through my coaching career without any specific plan, so I've never really had an idea about what my next job will be. There have been different experiences and varieties of jobs and countries over the years - I've gone through a whole raft of them.
"At times I've been fortunate to be given jobs which have really appealed to me for the most part". So would a FIFA Technical Committee role be of interest?
"Haha! I've wanted one of their blazers for the last thirty years!" chuckles the Football Ferns coach, as he looks to close this chapter of his storied career by guiding New Zealand's finest to a win at the 2021 Olympic Women's Football Tournament.
Realising that objective will be one of his, and this country's, finest achievements, of that be in no doubt.
The Football Ferns take on their oldest foes for the 51st time at Tokyo Stadium from 11.30pm on July 21, looking to score their first victory over Australia since October 1994!
They follow that up with a clash against the reigning world champions, the USA, at Saitama Stadium from 11.30pm on July 24, before concluding group play at the Miyagi Stadium on July 27, when they face Sweden from 8pm.
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