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FIFA World All-Star
Life As A FIFA World All Star
by Jeremy Ruane
As the May issue of Soccer Talk was going to press, New Zealand women's soccer star Maia Jackman was experiencing something which only one other Kiwi footballer, Wynton Rufer, has achieved - playing in a FIFA World All-Stars match.
In the March issue, we reported on her selection for the game against Women's World Cup Finals hosts, China. Now, over a month on from taking part in the event, “MJ” is still buzzing from the experience, and she was only too willing to reprise her memories of this rare opportunity for a New Zealand footballer …
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
John Herdman had just been appointed coach of the national women's team in March, and he arranged a trial match in the week of his appointment, as the squad for the Oceania qualifiers in Papua New Guinea had to be announced by its conclusion.
I didn't trial at all. I was still recovering from the knee injury I suffered in last season's National Women's League Grand Final, and my goal was to be fit for the All Stars match.
Hence my mind wasn't on PNG, as I didn't think I'd recover in time for it. John took me aside after the trial and said, “We're going to name twenty players, and because of your leadership qualities, etc., I'd really like you to be involved still. If you feel that you may be able to contribute, even if it's twenty minutes here and there, we'll just do a Danny Hay with you!”
I said, “Of course I'd love to be”, but at the back of my mind I was concerned about how the girls might feel, given I hadn't been training properly with them for ages, and wasn't part of the trial.
John was sure that wouldn't be an issue. A couple of the girls were surprised I was selected, which was to be expected, but it worked out well.
PNG was a different experience, that's for sure. But in terms of the All Stars game, I think it was really critical - if I could last a full game against the island nations, I should last a half-game in China.
So I was really grateful to John to give me that olive branch, and opportunity - it was like a rehabilitation tour for me. I wasn't expecting to start or play the full ninety in all the games, so the whole thing was a big bonus, and gave me some confidence ahead of the special occasion.
ARRIVAL
Getting to China was a mission. By comparison, Australian international Cheryl Salisbury, who had also been selected, was there already, having travelled on from the Matildas' Olympic qualifiers in Hong Kong.
I went via Sydney to Shanghai, and Cheryl's guest was on the same flight. We arrived to find the entire domestic airport closed, so were wondering “How are we supposed to get to Wuhan from here?” I used the little Chinese I still recall from my time with Dalian Shide in 2002 to find out what was happening.
Luckily my phone worked over there, so I rang Tatjana Haenni, the FIFA liaison, and she asked, “Do you need help?” “Er, yes!!!!” So she said to find a hotel, something like the Hilton preferably, then get a flight in the morning - FIFA will reimburse us.
Some people helped us get our ticket, and took us to a hotel - it was far from the Hilton, and for some reason wouldn't take credit cards. The beds were as solid as rock, so it wasn't the best night's sleep, but at least it was a lie-down, and in China.
After our morning flight to Wuhan, the trip from the airport took about ninety minutes! By the time we got to our destination, we were shattered, but the hotel was awesome - five star!
After my arrival, the girls arrived in dribs and drabs throughout the day, and over the next couple of days. It was disappointing that Marta and Birgit Prinz were no longer available, but Kristine Lilly was a certainty - she arrived the day before the game.
You read about all these outstanding players, then find yourself in their midst and it's like, “Wow!” I was like a deer in headlights, to be honest.
TRAINING
Only seven of us were there for our first training session, and we met the coaches, Hope Powell and Tina Theune-Meyer - a good combination. Right from the off, you could tell Hope was a real hard-nosed, no-nonsense coach, while Tina was very quietly spoken, and would tell you how it was in the nicest of ways, yet very bluntly.
She had the utmost respect from everybody because she's pretty much won everything - she coached Germany's 2003 Women's World Cup winners, for instance.
We had a bit of a kick-around, and to be honest, I was so nervous that I completely forgot about my knee. These girls, individually with the ball, are just phenomenal. I'm not the best technical player in the world, and I've never advocated that. My juggling record is something like fifty, and all these girls could do that with their eyes closed.
We had to juggle first-up, and the ball was bouncing everywhere off me. Then we got in pairs for passing, and I teamed up with Cheryl, who's a six foot four wall of muscle. She clips the ball in, but it feels like a rocket when it hits you. So when I tried to control her passes on my chest, I'd be coughing my lungs out! Tina's saying, “You have to control it”, and my response was, “I'm trying, I'm trying!!”
From what I remember of the Germans in 1998, they were huge, and Cheryl's just like them. So Tina's expectations were probably along the lines of Cheryl's standard, and I was thinking to myself, “She must be thinking what this woman is doing here!”
I went back to my hotel room after that session and was thinking, “Spot the token Oceania player”. I wasn't feeling too confident about myself, and carried that into the next few sessions - I put myself in the second-rate citizen bag compared to my team-mates. No-one else said that to me - it's where I put myself, and I think that showed up in training.
I was enjoying the moment and everything that surrounded it, but at the same time I wasn't enjoying it, because I felt like I was punching above my weight, and it looked like it as well.
Then I thought, “If I was back home, other than the juggling, I would have been fine doing the things we were doing”. I sent John a text saying, “I don't know what I'm doing here”, and his reply was, “Enjoy being out of your comfort zone”.
He was right. In NZ, players know who I am, and I feel comfortable that they know my limitations. But when you're among a group of players who are supposed to be among the best in the world … I certainly wasn't feeling like one of the best in the world, that's for sure.
TEAM-MATES
I really enjoyed meeting and talking to the girls. On the hour-long bus ride to training, I sat next to a couple of them, and just chatted about what their programmes and coaches are like, so it was really interesting to talk to them as players and people and find out you're not so different after all.
I have a high level of respect for John, so I was talking him up, and a lot of the girls were really impressed. Kristine Lilly, for instance, said the US coach is great, but he leaves the player motivation aspect to other staff.
Both Kristine and the Canadian, Andrea Neil, said, “John sounds really good”, while Cheryl said, “He
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 The FIFA World All Stars and China squads gather for a collective photo after the match. Maia is crouching two rows behind China's #17, who is kneeling three in from the left at the front.
 A special teamsheet in New Zealand women's football's history
 Casting a shadow ... Maia in action for Western Springs
 New Zealand's captain in aerial combat against University of North Carolina
 Flying in to thwart the USA's Abby Wambach on 12 August in Chicago
Maia Jackman's Favourites
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sounds like Tom Sermanni - it's made a big difference to our team having that sort of a coach”.
So we do have a point of difference in terms of coaches, I think, particularly in terms of creating a good environment. John is very positive and instils confidence in us by having us know that he genuinely believes in us. He puts his heart and soul into us and women's football - he really cares.
I struck up really good friendships with both Cheryl and Andrea, who was a late replacement for the unavailable Christine Sinclair. Andrea's awesome - she has great leadership qualities. She had a massive scar on one of her knees from a motorbike accident in the Dominican Republic which got gangrenous - she came very close to losing her leg. You talk about injuries, and she's had them, that's for sure.
She was really good in helping me with my confidence in Wuhan. “I didn't think I'd ever be in this kind of situation either”, she said. “I'm a blue-collar player”. “What's that?”, I replied.
“I'm a real workhorse. I don't have the flair or the skill, but I'll give you 110%. I said to Evan Pellerud, our Canadian coach, I must be the first blue-collar player to play for an All Stars team”. Then she met me! As it turned out, she played at left-back and I was at right-back, so the two blue collars were flanking the defence.
THE MATCH
On game day, our bus arrived at the ground way too early, which frustrated Hope no end. We got to the changing rooms, and I saw my World All Stars shirt hanging there with my name on it - a really cool feeling. Then I heard the drums - the Chinese go all out with drums - which brought back memories of when I played in China, as well as our games there last November.
For some reason, my nerves went out the window. I looked around the room at all the players, and thought “This is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity - just chill out and enjoy it”. So I did.
It really helped that I was in the team which played the second half. We went out for our warm-up, and in the background they announced, “the attendance here today is 31,000” … gulp!! It's the biggest crowd I've played in front of, and they created an awesome atmosphere.
After the team warm-up, and the starting eleven went away to do their thing, we had time to ourselves. Kristine said, “Maia, do you want to have a kick-around?” “Yeah, sure”.
So we're kicking the ball around and I've got the biggest grin on my face - she must have thought I was a nutter!! I'd receive the ball from her, and I just couldn't stop grinning - I was kicking the ball around with the world's most capped player!
She's so humble - she has no idea she has that kind of impact on someone. She wouldn't even entertain the thought. I spoke to her quite a lot, and struck up a friendship with her, too. She's just normal - cool, funny, and would love to come to NZ one day.
We watched the first half, and I thought, “I can play here. I won't look out of place”, so I took that into the second half and apparently had a fairly good game. It was really cool playing with so many players that understand the game and know their roles so well. Even though we'd hardly trained together, just having that level of quality in all ten other players made the game so enjoyable.
I honestly thought that, for once, I was going to be on a team that was going to beat a top-class side. It wasn't to be, though - China won 3-2 with a late goal - but I really enjoyed the game, and the whole experience.
Afterwards, we had a party, as everyone was heading their separate ways the next day. Tina was asked how she thought I played, and she gave me a hug and said, “She did really great”, which, from Tina, was a huge compliment. Then, “Although in the first training, I was thinking `Oh my God, what is this? No skill?”
Connie Selby, Oceania's Director of Women's Football, sent Tina an email asking her how I did. I've got her reply, because not only is it funny, it's a massive compliment to have from a coach of such calibre.
Her reply started, “It was really nice to meet Maia, although when I first saw her on the field, I thought she was some farmer's daughter from New Zealand with no skill! But in the game, she was a cracker - great mentality and a real keen tournament player”.
Hope gave me a hug when I was leaving, and said “You played really well”, so that was cool too. The game just capped off the trip. I really enjoyed playing at right-back - you can get forward, which is something I really miss about playing in central defence.
THE DRAW
The day after the game, the draw for the Women's World Cup Finals took place, and it was there that I got to see Han Duan, my Chinese friend. She played against us in the match - I didn't see too much of her, as she was causing the centre-backs grief.
I'd emailed her a couple of times to tell her I was coming, but I hadn't heard back. So when we went in for a pre-match group photo, I tapped her on the shoulder - her reaction was priceless!! “Maia! You come China - you no tell me!” “But I emailed you”, I replied. “No email” …
We embraced after the game, and all the cameras went off big-time! She's the icon player over there - a really pretty girl, great personality, as funny as hell, and a real little jokester who plays up to the media. They soon learnt of our background together at Dalian, so they brought that story up at the draw.
Which was fun. After going through the whole process, which was quite interesting, the draw progressed, and as all the names went in the various groups, I couldn't take my eyes off Group B.
I was thinking, “Oh my God, we are so going to get chucked in there!” Then out of our bowl came Nigeria, “and they will go into Group B”, said the compere. I was thinking, “Yessss!!” Talk about the proverbial Group of Death! No group will be easy, but that one's a nightmare.
We ended up in Group D with China, the host nation, Brazil, 2004 Olympics runners-up, and Denmark, 2007 Algarve Cup runners-up. People were saying, “New Zealand - dark horses. They'll be difficult, but we'll push them over”, as I sat there listening to them, thinking, “No you won't!”
They lined up the players who were present in their groups. Han was there, of course, and I was high-fiving with Denmark's Gitte Andersen, from the All Stars squad, while the Brazilian, Daniela - an awesome player - had a completely different response, as in fists up, ready to fight!
The previous evening, Chinese TV had asked if I wanted China in our group. I said, “Yes - that way I won't let Han Duan score any goals against us!!” After the draw, I was asked how I felt about facing them for real.
“It's great”, I said. “We've had some recent experience in China, so know roughly what to expect, and know at least one of our games will attract a big crowd and a special atmosphere”.
As with the All Stars experience, I'm really looking forward to it.
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