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Korean Conquest Kicks Off “Exciting Time” For Ferns

by Jeremy Ruane

The Football Ferns kick off the best possible preparation they could have for the forthcoming Olympic Women's Football Tournament on Saturday evening, when they take on the Korea Republic in the opening match of the second Peace Queen Cup tournament.

The biennial event, which boasts prize money totalling $US 250,000, sees seven invited countries joining their Korean hosts in Suwon for a festival of women's football which is also a very important lead-up event for the Olympics.

The New Zealand squad's invitation came at the eleventh hour, a result of North Korea's late withdrawal, and means coach John Herdman can put a relatively young squad through its paces in a tournament environment, ahead of the year's main focus.

“It's a great competition for New Zealand's women's programme”, he declares. “For the first time since I've been involved with the project, we'll be taking part in an actual tournament prior to a major finals event”.

The Football Ferns will also be playing a number of internationals - to be announced following their return from Korea - in the build-up to their Olympic encounters with Japan, Norway and the USA, which will mean they'll be one of the best-prepared teams on show come the time of the showpiece event of the year.

“We've developed a criteria to be competitive more frequently”, says Herdman, who is preparing to take charge of his twentieth senior international in as many months, a statistic which contrasts starkly with the fifteen internationals New Zealand's women played in an eight-year period between November 1998 and October 2006.

“As part of our Olympic preparations, we've been playing matches against men's youth teams. In days gone by, these teams have been putting five or six goals past us comfortably, but we're now matching the likes of Paul Hobson's Birkenhead United U-19 team, which competed in the USA earlier this year.

“In these matches, the girls now look like they're going to score, which is a measure of how they have grown, both as a team and as individuals, and really improved over time”.

Selecting a squad to represent the world's 24th-ranked women's football-playing nation in Suwon has given Herdman a few headaches, and the absence of experienced heads like Simone Carmichael, Maia Jackman - the first New Zealand squad she hasn't been a part of since 1995 - and Wendi Henderson hasn't gone unnoticed.

“It has been tough, certainly, but in some ways quite easy”, says the coach of the Junior Ferns' upcoming FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals campaign. “Some players have really kicked on since China - they stick out like sore thumbs! They've listened to the advice of the technical team and reinvented themselves.

“When I took over this team in November 2006, I did so with a long-term vision and a legacy approach in mind. I opted to invest in the youth of New Zealand football, and have persevered with players who've had raw material.

“We now have some youth players who have graduated at senior level, and have developed quite a bit of experience in a short period of time. And they're hitting form and peaking at the right time as well”.

The oldest outfield player in Herdman's latest Football Ferns squad is Kristy Hill, who is not the only debutant in the nineteen-strong squad which flew to Seoul on Tuesday.

“Betsy Hassett has been a stand-out in domestic football”, says the coach, “and while she's still learning at senior level, she still has the raw materials and the ability, like all her team-mates, to perform on the world stage.

“Renee Leota has never looked back since the Australian series at the start of the year, while Emma Kete has really matured as a senior international player”, says Herdman of two more of the squad's

John Herdman wired for sound in Suwon

Happy captain Hayley Moorwood on arrival in Korea

Betsy Hassett - debutant

Kristy Hill - debutant

rising stars.

“The squad overall is a reflection on who's performing well. Both the playing and fitness standards have increased massively in the last couple of years. The players we've looked at are very attack-minded, and technically quite gifted”.

One of the players selected gained the last of her six caps in May 2005. “This tournament is the opportunity for Amber Hearn to arrive again on the international stage”, remarks Herdman.

“She's a very committed player, who is working very hard to improve her fitness levels after a lengthy spell away from the game. But she brings a level of excitement which lifts other players, and I'm hoping she and others will shine at this tournament and make a name for themselves.

“It's time for some players to now step up and say we're key players on the world stage - when they do, we'll win games. We're still developing as a team, and are in that transitional phase from defending well to becoming a team that will test opposing teams.

“We feel we can go into games now and play”, Herdman enthuses. “At the Women's World Cup Finals, we weren't turned over like some had predicted, and our results overall are seen as very positive for New Zealand, and our performances very organised.

“As a coach, it's an exciting time. You can call on players who can defend as well as attack, and some genuinely hard-working players, such as Hearn, Leota, Hayley Moorwood and Kirsty Yallop breaking from midfield …

“Speed is a precursor of success at international level. Our players need to be sharp over five, ten, twenty metres. Players who aren't sharp over those distances must have a major `X factor' in their armoury which sets them apart, because international fitness standards are important. So is our future”.

The Football Ferns' immediate future sees them taking on Korea Republic from 8pm on June 14, in the opening match of the week-long Peace Queen Cup tournament.

The Koreans narrowly missed out on the play-off phases of the just-completed Asian Women's Cup tournament, after causing one of the upsets of the competition in coming from behind to down Japan 3-1 in their opening match.

And with an estimated 25,000 natives urging them on inside the Suwon World Cup Stadium, a venue which hosted four matches at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals, they will provide stiff opposition for the Moorwood-captained Ferns first up.

Forty-eight hours later, Argentina stand in New Zealand's way. The reigning South American champions haven't kicked a ball in anger since last year's Women's World Cup Finals - how they must envy the programme which their Oceania counterparts have mapped out for them ahead of the Olympics!

The Football Ferns conclude their group with a match against Canada, on June 18 at 5pm. “With their pedigree, they're favourites in our group”, says Herdman of a team which only lost to the USA on penalties in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Final in April.

There's a particularly lucrative carrot dangling in front of the Football Ferns should they overcome the odds and win the group - a $US 50,000 carrot, to be precise.

“This group of players genuinely believe they can make their mark on the world stage during this tournament”, says Herdman of his charges. “Winning a game at the Olympics is the ultimate goal of this team. I say again, it's an exciting time”.

A further $US 150,000 will be on offer in the tournament final on June 21, a match which will feature the winner of New Zealand's group and either Australia, Brazil, Italy or the USA, who make up the other pool at the second Peace Queen Cup.

The USA are the reigning Peace Queen Cup holders, having downed Canada 1-0 to claim the crown in the final of the inaugural competition in 2006.

2008 Peace Queen Cup