Football Ferns

Fulltime 1-1.  Next game v Norway is on the 28th at 7am NZ time

Think the draw for the World Cup is out on 6 December. 1/4 finals could be a possitbility.

Great result. Really exciting the way the Ferns are playing at the moment. COYF

Suffered a 2-0 loss against Norway.  Was 0-0 going into final 10 mins of the game.

Pots out for the draw tomorrow (6am)

POT 1 - Canada, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, USA

POT 2 - CAF/CONCACAF/OCEANIA: Cameroon, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria

POT 3 - AFC/CONMEBOL: Australia, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Korea Republic, Thailand

POT 4 - UEFA: England, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

Worst outcome: USA, Sweden, Australia. 3 top 10 teams.

Best outcome: Canada, Ecuador, Switzerland

Shark. do we have a chance?  We've played well against China and Netherlands lately right...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/63912308/fifa-womens-world-cup-pool-draw-tough-for-new-zealand

We must have a good chance of beating China who we've beaten in three out of four of our last meetings with a goal differential of 8 : 2. Although China are ranked 14th in the world and NZ 19th, there probably isn't much difference between the sides in reality.

The Netherlands women's team are not as fearsome as their men's team and this is their first appearance at a World Cup.

Their current world ranking is 15 and they have never been higher than 13. They've fluctuated between 13th and 20th over the last six years.

They made the UEFA Women's Finals last year but were knocked out in the group stage, finishing bottom of their group after losing to Norway and Iceland and drawing with Germany 0-0. Iceland are currently ranked 20 in the world and NZ 19th, so it indicates we have quite a chance really.

In qualifying for next year's finals, the Netherlands made it via the play-offs after finishing second to Norway in their not very strong group which contained UEFA lightweights Portugal, Belgium, Greece and Albania (none of them very strong in women's football).

They beat Scotland (ranked 21) over two legs and then Italy (ranked 13) in the play-off final over two legs. 

Most of the Dutch squad play for the women's teams of Eredivisie clubs like Ajax, PSV and FC Twente with a few playing in Germany and Sweden. The Dutch women's league is much weaker than the German or Swedish.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NZ's recent form against our opponents and group preview:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/63912308/Fif...

"New Zealand have played all three teams since the 2011 World Cup. They drew 2-2 with the Netherlands in Cyprus in 2012, lost 2-0 to Canada in Switzerland in 2012, and have played China four times, winning 3-1 and 1-0 in Auckland in 2012, 4-0 in Switzerland in 2013, before losing 1-0 in China earlier this year." 

You can go through being in 3rd place. Win one of those games and we are probably through. 

Mon, 08 Dec 2014 10:01a.m.

Football expert Riccardo Ball joins Brendan to look at the recently-released 2015 Women’s World Cup draw, which will see the Football Ferns come up against hosts Canada, China and the Netherlands.

http://www.radiolivesport.co.nz/Riccardo-Ball/tabid/454/articleID/21590/Default.aspx

Football Ferns v Denmark

January, 2015
(Caps/Goals/Club)

GoalkeepersCushla Lichtwark – 0/0 – Upper Hutt City, NZ
Erin Nayler – 20/0 – Glenfield Rovers, NZ

DefendersKatie Bowen – 18/0 – University of North Carolina, USA
Abby Erceg – 105/5 – USV Jena, GERMeikayla Moore – 9/0 – Coastal Spirit, NZLRia Percival – 97/10 – USV Jena, GERAli Riley – 85/1 – FC Rosengard, SWERebekah Stott – 31/2 – SC Sand, GER

Midfielders

Hayley Bowden – 90/10 – Shizuoka Sangyo University, JPN
Daisy Cleverley – 3/2 – Forrest Hill Milford Utd AFC, NZL
Betsy Hassett – 71/8 – Manchester City FC, ENG
Katie Hoyle – 94/1 – Notts County FC, ENG
Annalie Longo – 70/4 – Coastal Spirit, NZL
Kirsty Yallop – 82/12 – Vittsjo GIK, SWE

Forwards

Helen Collins -25/6 – Claudelands Rovers, NZL
Sarah Gregorius – 58/21 – AS Elfen Saitama, JPN
Amber Hearn – 91/44 – USV Jena, GER
Jasmine Pereira – 3/0 – Three Kings Utd, NZL
Rosie White – 61/14 – UCLA, USA
Hannah Wilkinson – 61/19 – University of Tennessee, USA

Management staff

Tony Readings – Head Coach
Aaron McFarland – Assistant Coach
Danny Robinson – Assistant Coach
Claire Hamilton – Team Manager
Gary Connell – Performance Analyst
Harriet Steele – Sports Scientist
Julie Shamlaye – Doctor
Anna Muller – Physiotherapist

Match Schedule

Football Ferns v Denmark
Spice Hotel Football Grounds, Belek, TurkeyMonday 13 January, 1am (NZ time)

Football Ferns v Denmark
Spice Hotel Football Grounds, Belek, Turkey
Wednesday 15 January, 9pm (NZ time)

Cushla has gone a long way in the past few years

Yup. Have to admire her determination and work ethic

Yeah I agree

Surprised that Readings has gone with teenager Jasmine Pereira from the Development Side as a striker rather than Aimee Phillips aged 23 from Mainland Pride who looked a more finished product and impressed much more in the national women's final in Christchurch a month ago.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/63847927/mai...

Phillips was second-highest scorer in the women's league this season behind Helen Collins  and joint top-scorer last season.

"Phillips has made the difficult decision to move from Christchurch to Auckland next year to give herself the best chance of making the Football Ferns.

The 23-year-old is firmly on the New Zealand radar, being invited to trial for the national team twice this year."

I think the fact she ain't in Akld aint a small reason

Pity we just missed out on an historic win over Denmark.  Not sure off my head that any NZ team, male or female (junior or senior) has beaten them

I saw All Whites (senior men) win 2-1 over Denmark U-23 in Wellington in January 1995.

I'm aware there wasn't any live tv/streaming of the Ferns' draw, but was it filmed at all? It would be great to see Flea's goal should there be any publicly-available footage.

Actually now you mention that I remember it. Still not a true result as it was the AWs playing an Olympic side, not a true international.

Beat Denmark 3-2. Decent result. 

Football Ferns to take on North Korea and Australia in a Tri Series at Bill McKinlay Park in February. They will play NK on Feb 8 and Australia on Feb 12 with NK playing Australia on Feb 10. 

Really the Ferns should be pushing the Silverferns as NZs best women's national team (ignoring rugby which is a minority minority women's sport).

Don't forget the women's Black Sticks. I can see all three teams being the premiere NZ women's sides though.

Sunday Feb 8 v North K @ 7.30pm

Thursday Feb 12 v Oz @ 7pm

Tuesday Feb 10 [Nth K v Oz] 3.30pm

Note: ACFC v Southern Utd ASB Prem @ Kiwitea St 2pm also Sunday Feb 8th

Tue, 20 Jan 2015 9:24a.m.

Former All White and New Zealand Football High Performance Director Fred de Jong joins the show to look at New Zealand football, including news that the Football Ferns will host a tri series against two of the world’s top 10 nations next month.

http://www.radiolivesport.co.nz/Fred-de-Jong/tabid/454/articleID/22054/Default.aspx

Pre world cup game against the US.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/soccer/article_3184c0a1-ed95-5e5c-89b0-3d9d05a8dd3d.html#.VMUIDbdDJbM.twitter

is tonight's game televised???

Doesn't appear to be.   Current score is 1-1 between NZ and Korea DPR

Full-time and it's a 1-1 draw against the 7th ranked North Koreans

looked a good sized crowd for them too.

Enjoyable game played at a fast pace.

Thought the North Koreans were slightly the better side (as you would expect ranked 7th in the world) but not much in it.

Pretty physical match at times , particularly with WWF methods at corners. Koreans very quick on the counter attack but Ferns defended well

Not sure about crowd - maybe 1000 ?

Impressed by Ferns willingness to play out from the back although it did cause them problems at times.

Nice to go back to Bill McKinley for the first time in years - a pity to see the once mighty Mount playing social football these days.

Will definitely be back on Thursday.

Opposing headlines ...

Football Ferns fail to make pressure count against North Korea

Football Ferns stand tall under pressure

Mon, 09 Feb 2015 9:40a.m.

Football Ferns coach Tony Readings looks back on his side’s match against Korea DPR in Auckland last night, and its upcoming fixture against the Matildas on Thursday night.

http://www.radiolivesport.co.nz/Tony-Readings/tabid/454/articleID/22330/Default.aspx

The Aussies have brought a strong side to Auckland including 16 from the Asian Cup Final last year and current Asian Player of the year Katrina Gorry  -  but haven't played since May last year and have a couple of prominent players like Sam Kerr missing through injury:

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/article/westfi...

Monday, 2 February 2015-

Staff writer

"Westfield Matildas Head Coach Alen Stajcic has named a 24-player squad for next week’s internationals against New Zealand and DPR Korea in Auckland.

In what will be the Westfield Matildas’ first matches since the team finished runners up at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in May last year, the squad for this upcoming international tri series features a host of familiar names as well as some fresh faces and players who are returning to the national team setup.

There are 16 players from last year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup campaign, including current Asian Player of the Year Katrina Gorry, while Larissa Crummer, 16 year old Alex Chidiac and Amy Harrison are three new players in the squad, the trio having impressed at the training camps Stajcic has held in the lead up to these matches.

“Alex Chidiac has done really well. She’s a youngster who has impressed at camp so it will be a good opportunity for her to gain some experience and come on a tour with the national team,” said Stajcic.

Midfielders Kyah Simon and Aivi Luik are two players who are back in calculation after overcoming injuries. In contrast, there are some notable absentees that could not be considered because of injury.

“There are a few girls returning from injury and a few girls that are currently injured as well such as Ellie Brush, Kate Gill, Sam Kerr, Lydia Williams and Tameka Butt so there are a number of girls still in contention,” said Stajcic.

“These two matches are the first step in the process and it’s going to be an excellent examination on how our players are travelling and how they can step up to that level.

“We’ll certainly be using these two games to test some players that either haven’t played for a while or are just reemerging back into the national team so we want to see if they’re capable at that level.”

Seen as an important part of the Westfield Matildas’ preparations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 in Canada, Stajcic believes the chance to face a DPR Korea side that is currently ranked 7th in the FIFA world rankings as well as the 18th ranked Football Ferns will provide a fitting gauge to the progress made in the past month.

“We’ve had three camps and the team has progressed really well on and off the field,” said Stajcic.

“Obviously it will be a big test to jump straight back into international football after that little period, especially DPR Korea who are one of the best teams in the world, but we think we’re tracking well and this will be a good challenge for us.”

                                                 __________________________________________________________

Their last game was last May's Asian women's cup final which they lost to Japan.

Seven of that squad were playing in the US women's league, including three under former All White Aaron Lines from Christchurch at Western New York Flash:

That squad and their then clubs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_women's_nat...

Many of the Matilda's play in both the Aussie women's league and the US women's league since the seasons don't overlap.

Matildas coach Alen Stajcic is an Aussie who has been a prominent women's coach in NSW since 2002.

He replaced Dutch woman Hesterine De Reus last April after players rebelled against what they claimed was her overly strict style.

De Reus had replaced former Christchurch United player Tom Sermanni at the beginning of 2013 when the later went to coach the US national team (and then got controversially sacked last April).

The Aussie women beat North Korea 2-1, and play football ferns tomorrow.

Looks like the Womens world cup trophy is in Auckland.  Bet it won't be coming to Wellington.

Beats me how the Matildas can still be ranked number 10 in FIFA's women's rankings despite not having played a game since last May...

and the Football Ferns have played heaps with some good results and are only ranked 18th...

Hopefully we win tonight and with some of our recent results, move higher up the ranking table.

er currently down 3 goals to 1.   

A bit