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Experienced Junior Ferns Set Sights On Top Eight
by Jeremy Ruane
Throughout 2008, the Football Ferns - via their Olympics conquests - and the Young Ferns, who performed with great credibility at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals, have enjoyed limelight aplenty while flying the New Zealand flag on the world stage.
Quietly working away in the background has been a third New Zealand women's team, the Junior Ferns, who may well upstage both their senior and younger peers at the forthcoming FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals in Chile.
Largely a combination of Football Ferns and Junior Ferns players, with a smattering of former NZ Secondary Universities internationals enhancing the mix, John Herdman's squad heads east on 14 November to embark on a mission.
Their minimum objective? Like that of those teams which have preceded them, it's to be the first representative team from this country to reach the last eight in a FIFA Finals.
This time, however, that objective is extremely realistic. Indeed, it would not surprise this writer if the Junior Ferns surpassed this ambition, such is their potential.
This squad is, without question, one of the most experienced New Zealand has ever sent abroad to contest the final stages of a FIFA tournament. Four players - Abby Erceg, Ria Percival, Merissa Smith and captain Katie Hoyle - have all played a part in the 2006 U-20 World Cup Finals, the senior World Cup Finals a year later, and this year's Olympics.
Annalie Longo, at just seventeen, is the only player to have graced all three FIFA Women's World Cup Finals tournaments, and boasts fifteen caps for the Football Ferns on top.
You simply cannot underestimate the benefits to be had from that sort of experience going into a FIFA Finals - for sure, very few if any of the other contenders at Chile 2008 will boast players with this calibre of international football finals knowledge to call upon at such a young age.
So it's a squad which other nations should fear. But Herdman knows full well that the other nations have a distinct advantage over the Junior Ferns this time round - the time they've had available to prepare as a group for these Finals.
“Every other team has had nine to eighteen months to prepare their squad as a group for this tournament. But with six players in the Olympics squad, and nine having just finished a two-year stint with the U17s, our preparation time as a group has been decidedly less.
“We've been working together since January, combining training sessions with both the senior and U-17 squads, and some players have never missed a session!
“But we've had very little time together solely as an U-20 squad - September's Four Nations tournament in Chile has been our only game-time together heading into these Finals”.
During that tournament, the Junior Ferns kicked off with a 2-1 loss at the hands of the host nation, a match in which contentious decisions played a part. They then drew 1-1 with Canada prior to thrashing Mexico 3-0.
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“The experiences from that trip are just some of the many positives on which we're relying”, says Herdman. “They far outweigh the negative aspects, that's for sure.
“Since the Four Nations, we've had up to five training sessions a week for the bulk of the squad, and they've been working really hard. We're starting to see improvements in the likes of Nicole Stratford, whose efforts have really caught the eye in recent weeks.
“Having a World Cup taking place on home soil at the same time hasn't been a problem for the girls at all - they're very focused, a good team. A nice group of girls who are already at a level where they're self-managed and self-maintained”.
So much so that, upon gathering together as a group just eight days out from their first fixture, the squad has formed its own leadership group, from which has emerged a captain in Katie Hoyle.
One of the stars of the Olympics campaign also impressed with her never-say-die approach throughout Russia 2006, and will lead by example a squad which, since meeting up on Tuesday, hasn't been sitting round thumb-twiddling! Far from it!
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“As well as twice-a-day training sessions, what we've done together in that brief time has involved establishing purposes and behavioural expectations”, outlines Herdman.
“We've also had the challenge of embracing the nine U-17 squad members, who are still buzzing after having just taken part in the Finals we're currently hosting, and are preparing to back up for another FIFA event so soon afterwards.
“It's been an emotional and psychological roller-coaster for them, but they're handling it really well”.
The Junior Ferns have got a tidy draw in Chile, kicking off against Nigeria before the host nation provide the opposition. After that, England stand in New Zealand's path. Needless to say, Herdman is quietly confident this will be the tournament when Oceania football's flagship nation finally becomes a contender, not just an also-ran.
“Nigeria will be our toughest game. We play them at 3pm, in the heat of the afternoon, having had just four days' acclimatisation together with a challenging itinerary beforehand.
“But we know what to expect from them, given Nigeria tends to make the quarter-finals at most FIFA events. They'll be big, strong, physically dominant, and operate with flair and creativity in a variety of positions. We'll need to be more organised in our tactical preparation, and we'll have to play our `A' game, that's for sure”.
The knowledge the Junior Ferns gained from their match against Chile in September, and the manner in which the final outcome was achieved, may well be a burden for the host nation, upon whom there will be expectations aplenty.
“They have three star players”, says Herdman. “If we nullify them, we'll stop Chile. There are goals to be had in this game - our best chance of victory. Following this, of course, is England, another opponent who present us with a good chance of picking up points.
“With England, you know what you're going to get - they're dogged, spirited, never say die. They'll offer us an opportunity, certainly. We'll have to work hard and take our chances, but we've got the players who can do that - a really good team”.
Such are the quirks of the tournament that the Junior Ferns' clash with Nigeria in Coquimbo is the third match of the Finals, yet precedes the opening ceremony, after which the other first round match in New Zealand's group, between Chile and England, takes place.
The Nigerian encounter kicks off at 7am on Thursday (Nov 20), and is followed by the Chile clash (1pm Sunday 23rd, also in Coquimbo), and the England engagement, in Santiago at 11am on Thursday 27th. Sky Sports will have live coverage of all the Junior Ferns' matches.
The quarter-finals (1st), semi-finals (5th) and final (8th) are all scheduled in the first week of December, and with Sky now boasting the coverage rights to all FIFA tournaments up to and including the 2012 Olympic Games, New Zealand football fans can expect to see a wealth of action from the world's best exponents of the beautiful game in the coming months.
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