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Taupo
Scoreless Stalemate Marks Milestone Match
by Jeremy Ruane
The Football Ferns and Brazil battled out a scoreless stalemate in front of 1507 fans at Taupo's Owen Delany Park on June 19, ensuring a drawn series, with the Auckland encounter three days prior having finished 1-1.
The match was the 200th international in the forty years in which New Zealand has played women's football on the world stage, but the cold, windy conditions meant the players weren't able to produce the vibrant spectacle of open, attractive play for which both these teams are noted.
The boisterous crowd had reason to cheer early on when Amber Hearn cheekily put the ball in the net, but the offside flag had been raised against Hannah Wilkinson well beforehand, the striker having been played in down the left by Rosie White, one of two changes to the Football Ferns' starting line-up compared to Monday's rain-soaked encounter.
Cristiane gave Erin Nayler an early scare when chasing through a Rebekah Stott back-pass, forcing the custodian to clear her lines hurriedly. But it was at the other end of the park where most of the early action was centred, with Ria Percival - a terrific game - central to much of it.
In the eighth minute, she picked up the pieces after Wilkinson had slipped as she looked to control a Betsy Hassett pass. The fullback then sent a cross whizzing across the bows of the incoming figure of White, who was just a stride away from scoring her second goal against Brazil in as many matches.
Four minutes later, Percival's free-kick delivery to the near post gave Brazilian goalkeeper Luciana Maria no end of trouble. She spilled it onto the incoming figure of Abby Erceg, off whom the ball ricocheted inches past the post - a very close call for the visiting side.
Erceg then erred in the centre circle, taking on one Brazilian too many and getting caught in possession as a result. Debora was the ultimate beneficiary of her blunder, but Nayler saved comfortably, which was just as well for referee Nick Waldron, who slipped over in the excitement and was doubtless hoping nobody noticed. Sorry, old son …
Brazil engineered the best chance of the match so far in the 21st minute, as they looked to take advantage of the wind at their backs throughout the first half. Rilany sent Andressa down the left, and she ran on before playing a neat one-two with Cristiane.
Kirsty Yallop's covering run thwarted her progress, but the ball broke kindly for Debora, who unleashed a twenty yard missile which Nayler did well to parry to her right before recovering the ball, surrounded by a ring of covering defenders.
Back came the Kiwis, Katie Hoyle, Ali Riley - far more involved tonight - and Yallop combining on the left, with the last-mentioned's pass just a stride behind Hearn, who soon found herself hitting the turf hard after being flattened by Miraildes, a challenge for which the Brazilian player was rightly booked.
Percival's resulting free-kick was once more a source of angst for Luciana Marie, who spilled it as it dropped in front of her. Thankfully for Brazil, she regathered it before the predatory figure of Wilkinson could pounce and punish the error in the manner desired by the vast majority of those present.
After Nayler comfortably dealt with shots from Cristiane and Thaisa, both of whom were in Brazil's squad at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Finals in Germany, Riley stepped in to block a Cristiane piledriver in the 31st minute, as the two-time FIFA Women's World Player of the Year finalist looked to reward her team's improved display with a goal.
But chances were few and far between, the windy conditions prompting a good old-fashioned arm wrestle of a match, with neither side able to come up with the "X factor" which Brazil's Marta or the Football Ferns' Hayley Bowden could well have provided had either been available for selection in this series.
Right on half-time, a fine break by Debora was rewarded by a terrific supporting run around her from Cristiane. She dragged her shot across the face of goal to bring the half to a close, one in which Stott and Hassett, as well as Percival, caught the eye in white.
The sterile nature of the match continued into the second spell, with the wind-assisted Football Ferns carving out just one chance of note in the first twenty minutes of the half. It came from another free-kick, Riley having been cleaned out from
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behind by Debora, who was rightly booked for a contribution which wasn't in keeping with her general display.
Percival's delivery was deadly once more, Wilkinson the recipient of her pinpoint delivery to the far post. But she guided the ball past the upright, much to the relief of Luciana Maria, who, truth be told, wasn't greatly tested in the second spell.
She was in the 64th minute, however, despite Brazil having earned a corner at the other end of the park. Such was the Football Ferns' desire to clear their lines that the ball ended up back at the feet of Luciana Maria within fifteen seconds of the corner having been taken.
Even then, there was no respite, for the phenomenal Percival, after covering the far post seconds earlier, was careering downfield at a tremendous rate of knots in an effort to put pressure on the 'keeper, a terrific run which was rewarded by the sight of Luciana Maria gratefully clearing it to safety at the expense of a throw-in.
It's that sort of committed effort by its individual members which has made the Football Ferns such a difficult team for higher-ranked opponents to overcome in recent times, and has brought them to within touching distance of claiming some of those big-name scalps in the same period, Brazil, of course, being the most noteworthy victim at the 2013 Valais Cup.
They came close to repeating the dose in this match, with Percival's 67th minute cross, destined for the head of Hearn, being tipped away at the death by Luciana Maria as the striker roared in on the far post.
Brazil responded nine minutes later, substitute Annalie Longo getting caught in possession and conceding it to Cristiane, who slipped it across to Miraildes. She was the beneficiary of a smart dummy run by Andressa before letting fly, but Nayler proved equal to the task, saving at the second attempt.
Helen Collins' late introduction to the fray delighted the locals - the biggest cheers on the night were reserved for the Waikato-Bay of Plenty talisman - and nearly provided the Football Ferns with a dramatic victory.
Within seconds of coming on, Luciana Maria was grabbing the ball before the newcomer could pounce. The 'keeper was then forced to rush out of her goal to thwart Sarah Gregorius, as she pursued a Collins pass, an attack which ultimately earned the Football Ferns a corner.
Percival delivered another peach to the near post, where Hearn rose above all-comers, only to direct her header onto the underside of the crossbar. Sadly for New Zealand, it ricocheted back into play, and prompted a spell of sustained pressure from the home team as they went for the win.
Hearn tested Luciana Maria from twenty-five yards, while Gregorius had the 'keeper scrambling seconds later following a poor clearance by Brazil's number one, who then denied Collins at the death, after a spirited attack instigated by Gregorius and master-minded by Hearn, who drew the covering defence splendidly before slipping Collins in with just the 'keeper to beat.
The final 0-0 scoreline was one of frustration for the home team and their fans, who will feel their charges did enough to win both matches against the world's sixth-ranked women's football-playing nation.
While Brazil return home to the World Cup Finals, and ultimately prepare for the 2016 Women's Olympic Football Tournament which they will host, the Football Ferns look to the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals in Canada in August, in which some members of the senior squad will be involved.
More fixtures are being sought in September and November, either side of the OFC Women's Championship, our FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying series, which this year will take place in Papua New Guinea during the third week in October, and will see the winners rewarded with a place at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Finals in Canada, which are now less than a year away.
F'ball Ferns: Nayler; Percival, Stott, Erceg, Riley; Hassett, Hearn (booked, 31), Hoyle, Yallop (Longo, 65); Wilkinson (Collins, 88), White (Gregorius, 60)
Brazil: Luciana Maria; Fabiana, Bruna, Tayla, Rilany; Miraildes (booked, 26), Thaisa; Debora (booked, 50) (Darlene, 81), Rosana (Maurine, 77), Andressa; Cristiane
Referee: Nick Waldron
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