Football Ferns
Klimkova still making phone calls to see who's available? Tourney (7th-19th Feb) outside a FIFA Womens window.
Nix ALW side play Jets this Sunday 4th Feb & Western United 19th Feb. Both games in Aus. Going to be a busy sweaty time for a few of the squad, with lots of air miles.
https://www.oceaniafootball.com/ofc-womens-olympic-football-tournament-oceania-qualifier/
https://www.nzfootball.co.nz/newsarticle/136929?newsfeedId=1275608&fbclid=IwAR0fO2FaJzLTri5XlSuUKyHboT9cVQEeTf-AGxi7JdVTOt0O-2R2NwPBnws
Given the OFC nations are so weak, thought Klimkova may have taken the opportunity to bypass alot of the Euro players inseason, and look at some younger ALW girls like Elliott, Whinham etc. Hannah Blake a bit unlucky to miss out to Rennie?
Nix players - Edwards, Barry, Taylor, Foster, Longo & Fraser.
Major absentees - Riley, Percival, Bott, Clegg, Moore, Steinmetz and Satchell.
Only 1 player at a US college & 1 at Unattached FC.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/350163627/football-ferns-co-captains-sit-out-olympic-qualifiers
The 24-strong squad features two uncapped players in Wellington Phoenix’s Brianna Edwards and Macey Fraser. Striker Hannah Wilkinson has returned from suspension.
Paul Ifill's Samoa (hosts) will be the toughest pool game.
Then likely meeting either of Fiji & PNG in the semi & then final.
https://www.nzfootball.co.nz/newsarticle/136929?newsfeedId=1275608
With the competition happening while many domestic leagues are still running, two players have been selected just for the first game before being allowed to return to their clubs. *First game only
Liz Anton* (19 caps) Perth Glory FC
Ruby Nathan* (1 caps) Canberra United
Head coach Jitka Klimková said:
“Our priority for this competition is qualifying for Paris 2024 and taking the Ford Football Ferns to the Summer Olympics for the fifth time.
“The format of tournament football always presents unique challenges and opportunities. In this case, with games happening every three days in hot and humid conditions, we have to be efficient in our final preparation and diligent with our recovery.
“The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 highlighted the fact that the level and standard in women’s international football is accelerating and the gap is closing. The OFC teams are no exception to that. We will rely on the full depth of our roster to meet the challenges that the teams in the OFC will present to us.
“The qualifiers are also a good opportunity to have the team together for an extended international window which, especially at the start of this new cycle, is really important to build on our connection on and off the pitch and lay the foundation for our style of play and evolution as a team for 2024 and beyond.”
OFC Women’s Olympic Qualifier – Group B games
Game 1:
7 February KO 1pm
Ford Football Ferns v Tonga
Football Federation Samoa Stadium, Apia, Samoa
Game 2:
10 February KO 5pm
Ford Football Ferns v Samoa
Football Federation Samoa Stadium, Apia, Samoa
Game 3:
13 February KO 4pm
Vanuatu v Ford Football Ferns
Football Federation Samoa Stadium, Apia, Samoa
Agree that Blake is unlucky to miss out.
Really hope there are no injuries to any Nix players this time round.
Team looks solid,good to see some new faces whilst the regulars are still in UK.
Careful what you wish for. Cue the first bit of comical goal keeping or defending against the Ferns.
The last full Womens OFC qualifying tourney involving the Ferns was the Nov-Dec 2018, in Tahiti. Qualifiers for the 2019 WWC (France). From memory not long after the messy Heraf saga, and Sermanni came in.
Ferns GF 43 GA 0, from 5 games!
So an average 8.6 to nil scoreline. 8-0 over Fiji in the final.
Hopefully the Island teams have narrowed the gap a bit. Samoa & PNG seem the big improvers the last few years.
https://www.oceaniafootball.com/womens-olympic-football-tournament-preview-vanuatu/
Careful what you wish for. Cue the first bit of comical goal keeping or defending against the Ferns.
The last full Womens OFC qualifying tourney involving the Ferns was the Nov-Dec 2018, in Tahiti. Qualifiers for the 2019 WWC (France). From memory not long after the messy Heraf saga, and Sermanni came in.
Ferns GF 43 GA 0, from 5 games!
So an average 8.6 to nil scoreline. 8-0 over Fiji in the final.
Hopefully the Island teams have narrowed the gap a bit. Samoa & PNG seem the big improvers the last few years.
https://www.oceaniafootball.com/womens-olympic-football-tournament-preview-vanuatu/
The worst thing about that is Wilkinson has played against the islands a few times but still has relatively low numbers of goals to her name:
9 Goals in 6 games. (4 in one match against Vanuatu to start off her Ferns goal scoring career). Shes not scored in every Pacific Island game she's played in.
Whereas
Amber Hearn: 25 goals from 11 games.
Every PI game she played, she scored and its interesting to note that since her retirement, the Ferns have struggled in front of goal.
Hearn and Archie Thompson have easily the best scoring records for kiwis in the Pacific.
Kirsty Yallop and Hayley Moorwood through the middle.
Abby at the back!
Those were the days!! They'd beat this lot by 5 or 6 every day of the week twice on sundays.
Kirsty Yallop and Hayley Moorwood through the middle.
Abby at the back!
Those were the days!! They'd beat this lot by 5 or 6 every day of the week twice on sundays.
It’s been raining in Apia but both match fields are looking good as we count down to the start of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament- Oceania Qualifier#WOFTQ pic.twitter.com/3LrYHiUjnG
— Oceania Football Confederation (@OFCfootball) February 4, 2024
Hopefully the weather is not as bad as the forecast.
Kirsty Yallop and Hayley Moorwood through the middle.
Abby at the back!
Those were the days!! They'd beat this lot by 5 or 6 every day of the week twice on sundays.
for a start...highest ever FIFA world ranking (16) and to the quarterfinals of the London Olympics. To add twice they beat Brazil in mini tournaments...two clean sheets might i add.. both 1-0 and both goals scored by Amber, in 2013 and 2015.
But if you want to go back even further when they all started playing together around 2008 they claimed the notable scalps of Argentina, Netherlands, Italy, Scotland, Wales and Colombia, while notching draws against Japan, Canada and England and Mexico.
do your homework. Don't expect to hear from you again. clown.
The current team wouldn't be thrashed by that side. It's just that the Ferns have sat still, whilst a host of other nations have got better, overtaking them. Many serious football nations are only now pouring money into women's football. Sure NZF can do better, and ALW teams at the Nix and Auckland will help - but a slide down the rankings is going to very tough to avoid. "We are 2 poxy islands in the Pacific", to quote that Aussie Welsh rugby coach a few years back.
The Ferns of say the 2012 Olympics, played pretty dire route one football. Though yeah Hearn was world class in her time. Ali Riley's Yank/Kiwi predecessor Rebecca Smith a classy defender. Tyler Bindon's mum Jenny in goal.
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2012/08/03/world/olympics-women/united-states/new-zealand/1281792/
Kirsty Yallop and Hayley Moorwood through the middle.
Abby at the back!
Those were the days!! They'd beat this lot by 5 or 6 every day of the week twice on sundays.
for a start...highest ever FIFA world ranking (16) and to the quarterfinals of the London Olympics. To add twice they beat Brazil in mini tournaments...two clean sheets might i add.. both 1-0 and both goals scored by Amber, in 2013 and 2015.
But if you want to go back even further when they all started playing together around 2008 they claimed the notable scalps of Argentina, Netherlands, Italy, Scotland, Wales and Colombia, while notching draws against Japan, Canada and England and Mexico.
do your homework. Don't expect to hear from you again. clown.
The Ferns teams of that era were better throughout friendlies and those forgettable mini-tournaments for sure, but they still blew it at major tournaments. That's why we had the longest streak of WWC matches without a win... until the current crop broke that against Norway. Admittedly the current crop then completely bottled it in the next game, but this acting like the previous team was superior in every way is just revisionist history. If anything - we missed the boat when it was easier to do well in women's football.
if you think this current lot would compete against the past era you're in la la land.
If the Norway game had been in Australia, I think Norway would have won it and lets not forget that Norway team were crap too.
Reckon Nix ALW side should take a game there.
The Ferns are coming home for 2️⃣ games this April 🥳
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) February 8, 2024
📍 Ōtautahi Christchurch
🏟️ Apollo Projects Stadium
🆚 Thailand 🇹🇭
🗓️ 6 & 9 April 2024
🎟️ On sale next week
💲 $20 adult (plus booking fees), U16 free
📖 Read in full at https://t.co/vH2TwnLhsA
🌿🤍🖤 pic.twitter.com/30buDKa8R3
This is massive. From what I'm hearing around the Auckland scene that figure is going to be closer to 50 per cent when they check it again this time next year....@NZ_Football https://t.co/ga7XvTlkxO
— Michael Burgess (@mikeburgess99) February 9, 2024
It is nominated as one of NZ's Favourite Sporting Moments at the Halberg Awards tonight so we went behind the scenes on Hannah Wilkinson's historic @FIFAWWC goal.
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) February 13, 2024
🗳️ Voting closes at 9pm tonight so vote now at https://t.co/ixtBPtUmeZ pic.twitter.com/UHTtSCFndx
CJ Bott has won the most tackles per 90 in the WSL this season 💪
— Sam Biccarino (@stattorino) February 16, 2024
🥇2.69 CJ Bott 🦊
🥈2.43 Erin Cuthbert 🔵
🥉2.41 Grace Clinton 🐓
4️⃣ 2.36 Ash Neville 🐓
5️⃣ 2.29 Clare Wheeler 🦊
6️⃣ 2.25 Hayley Ladd 👹
7️⃣ 2.21 Lia Wälti 🔫
(450+ mins)#BarclaysWSL #LCFCW
📸 @whereswalti pic.twitter.com/PKeHlzx7lE
https://theniche-cache.com/football/2024/2/22/the-football-ferns-have-qualified-for-the-paris-olympics-no-dramas
The Ferns scored 32 times in five games during this tour. They played exactly 50 games in between this series and the 2018 Nations Cup (aka the last time they took on the Oceania comrades) and in those games scored a mere 24 times.
Now for a major criticism: this team is not good at (attacking) headers. This team is actually quite bad at headers. Wilkinson scored a lovely one in the final but other than that they weren’t dominating in the air, to the point where even with such set piece maestras as Mickey Foster, Macey Fraser, and Ally Green involved they eventually started taking all their corner kicks short. One of Jale’s goals actually went in off her shoulder. Someone in this side is going to have to learn how to boss those things the way that Abby Erceg used to do (who still scores a couple headers from corners every year in the NWSL). Kate Taylor seems like the best bet.
Just another signal the depth in international women's football is increasing all the time, and the Ferns face a battle not falling down the rankings. Mexico weren't at last years WWC.
Mexico beat the United States for the second time ever, getting goals from Lizbeth Ovalle and Mayra Pelayo for a 2-0 victory Monday night in the Concacaf Women's Gold Cup. The US entered the game 40-1-1 against their rivals, with their only previous loss a 2-1 decision during Women's World Cup qualifying in 2010.
Banger, golazo, dagger, all of the synonyms. Just a stunner of a goal by Mayra Pelayo on a huge night for the Mexican WNT. pic.twitter.com/evtIOYLhXt
— Ella Brockway (@ellabrockway) February 27, 2024
Just another signal the depth in international women's football is increasing all the time, and the Ferns face a battle not falling down the rankings. Mexico weren't at last years WWC.
Mexico beat the United States for the second time ever, getting goals from Lizbeth Ovalle and Mayra Pelayo for a 2-0 victory Monday night in the Concacaf Women's Gold Cup. The US entered the game 40-1-1 against their rivals, with their only previous loss a 2-1 decision during Women's World Cup qualifying in 2010.
Banger, golazo, dagger, all of the synonyms. Just a stunner of a goal by Mayra Pelayo on a huge night for the Mexican WNT. pic.twitter.com/evtIOYLhXt
— Ella Brockway (@ellabrockway) February 27, 2024
Sounds like an air raid siren!
The Ford Football Ferns are coming back home in April! 🥳🇳🇿
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) March 1, 2024
🆚 Thailand
📅 Sat April 6 3pm / Tue April 9 7pm
🏟️ Apollo Projects Stadium, @Christchurch_NZ
🎟 Adults $20 / U16 Free (Info below👇)
Don't miss out on our first games in Aotearoa since the 2023 FIFA WWC! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/q1Orf4DlmG
Considering they only beat Panama (55) and Puerto Rico (103), fingers crossed that won't be enough for them to catch us after our rise winning the OFC tournament.
Considering they only beat Panama (55) and Puerto Rico (103), fingers crossed that won't be enough for them to catch us after our rise winning the OFC tournament.
When is the Womens Football Oympics draw made?
Hell yeah, Australia is going to get the Women’s Asian Cup in 2026. pic.twitter.com/KZIlbltuBc
— Joey Lynch (@joeylynchy) March 15, 2024
Hopefully NZF uses this as a chance to pick up some high quality friendlies vs AFC teams as they warm up for this.
Considering they only beat Panama (55) and Puerto Rico (103), fingers crossed that won't be enough for them to catch us after our rise winning the OFC tournament.
I've had a shocker here. Having gone into the OFC qualifying final thinking Colombia were well ahead of NZ, I somehow that afternoon found myself referring to the rankings as they stood in mid-2022, and have only just realised that with the release of the latest rankings update today.
Three of France, Spain, Germany, US, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Australia and Japan it is then. Gulp.