Football Ferns

Seemsto have been missed on the forum but we beat England 1-0 this morning...great result. Didn’t play that well first half but Nayler had a great game in goal and we came into it more second half with Gregorius scoring. We defended well second half.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/nz-teams/113184850/football-ferns-will-head-into-world-cup-full-of-confidence-after-win-over-england

https://www.facebook.com/footballferns/photos/ms.c.eJxtlsltBUAIQzuKgGHtv7HoK8ohz7kiVmMz4~_bVNv0i9sbCv~;zX4rcVfyxRUfBZb~;jMOXy6DD62yTyJPN4TtCwtMw~_ZfVA9~;D1G~_bA6~_wm~;ZeY1~_ORw9rSFjx0zmy~;7ebTccBd9x6hc~_ryApQTnC1o6mLmXmYto~_AlbuoiYFZkwzerzZAphwggaG4lar8mEMNlpN9FwVr8S1hWjJmTSBvLRahnWGmetM0HMZHanZUosPcRnMEXEOzLTnnD1cTtN5MscU2xCX3HG6mPs0IyqvGKet8INVS6jfFNQpSr9WqKMk67zkqzLrZMpWtS9laI44rwj90duS7CfONHgPOLzknfstsjV4Fw75HOKCl5ypx7C8GE~;sXwdJsmWo1Ji5M5fMnPxtsSKpf7JI1FkeJQw84KothGfkKgR5Ee2vHxP41reHdFyGhHr4hSfbdFHmEDFxdrRMjL7ik~;pXIJGs58Tjq38Jer4S4njHUvZRVJxEUkMn~_wr5PqF62WjUj7~;Ju6LXE2~_TZEtrPvRxTd8W~_12.bps.a.10156076315687021/10156076318042021/?type=3&theater

It was a good result as a confidence booster going into the tournament. Rode their luck a little first half and always up against it, But defended better and better as the game wore on.

Bit fortuitous with the goal pouncing on a goalkeeping error, but taking these opportunities is what wins games.

Showed resilience and belief particularly as the game wore on.

Still going to be a tough WC, Canada are a very good side and Nederlands are on top form; they beat Aus 3-0 overnight.

Will need a lot of hard graft and a little luck to take points off either.

Still, football; anything can happen.

Hey Heraf, Fudge you you fudgeing fudge.

Was at the game and thought we were poor. Classic kiwi hoofball.  England couldn't shoot to save themselves.  We were camped in our own 18 yard box.

Naylor played well though and was LotM.  Gregorious took her goal well too.  

Off to Cardiff and hope we play better, we will need to get any kind of result in France.

The ugly reality is we are in an incredibly tough group and very unlikely to get through. I dont see much in the way of the next generation coming through, we seem to have levelled out a bit at the moment.

In light of how well the U20s have gone.

Does Ole accept girls to their academy?

Sure there is the FFDP, but you would think for the girls/women's programme to really develop, needs to be linkage to the youth academies, incl Ole.

Yes we are in a tough group. And it looks like the Netherlands and Canada have really improved from last WC 4 years ago. I guess we will know in a few weeks time if our group of players has made any progress over that time. 

The 1-0 win over England was an incredibly awesome result, but I feel it may have papered over some of the deficiencies in this team and I am worried about how they will go first up against the dutch.

For me Stott and Erceg were fantastic yesterday, and I hope there high standard and Sermanni's influence can lift the team. 

But I fear it will be a difficult watch after seeing the U20 boys perform with such poise. I hope I'm proved wrong.

Yes.

aye it looks bleak I mean the U17 girls only finished 3rd at the World Cup!

Part of the problem seems to be the Ferns, whoever is in charge seems to be quite a closed shop

I dont think the U17 world cups provide much in the way of pointers to a countries future senior world cups, some do but most end up not transitioning into the senior ranks. How many of our own u17 womens team from when the tournament was played here for the very first time have made it all the way? 4 from that 2008 squad of 21 players.

The future is much better than it used to be but to be honest the style of football our most recent U17s played wasnt that progressive unfortunately. However that may be more of an indication of the coaches instructions rather than their ability. I just dont expect this senior womens team to get very far. Really hope im wrong but I just dont think we have enough depth in quality.

I agree. But I think this teams WC goals are not over stated. To win a game (Cameroon potentially) and get out of the group for the first time are good goals for this team. Our coach Tom Semanni coming in late has opted to select experienced players over youth which is understandable considering the time frame he had. If they can achieve these 2 goals it will be a big success and something to build on. 

There seems to be alot more young NZ women now that are getting pro contracts overseas getting opportunities to play full time. That can only be good for the FF future.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/nz-teams/113237563/football-ferns-concede-late-in-shock-loss-to-wales-one-week-out-from-the-world-cup

I watched the game. disappointing result. Our defence played very well so it was tough to concede right on full time. We had a lot of possession but every time we got the ball they quickly put 11 players between us and the goal and we struggled to break them down, not able to create clear chances in front of goal and eventually running out of ideas. Credit to Wales here. Some of our execution in the final third was poor which didn't help especially at set pieces. Some of our players tend to pass the ball backwards alot, I thought we looked better in the second half with more intent to move forward. On the positives Chance looked lively and got 90 minutes. Stott and Erceg were the stand out players again. 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/nz-teams/113333095/football-ferns-coach-tom-sermanni-extends-contract-with-nz-football-until-2020

Oh nooo

I wish you a speedy and full recovery. Please don't let it get you down. You have much more to offer football.

I just went through the tables at this World Cup and it's great to see Fifa are gender neutral, every team has the word "Women" after it except the Italians, they have the word "Ladies" after their name. Is there a reason for this?

We're idiots?

Watched the 2nd half of Canada v Cameroon. Not a great quality game. Looked like two teams that NZ can definitely compete against. Cameroon were quite physical and managed to disrupt any flow or momentum that Canada could muster. Neither team really threatened goal from open play. Most dangerous moments were from set piece. Corners mostly.

I'm worried about tomorrow mornings game though. Netherlands have so much goal scoring quality and pace. We are really going to need a big game from Percival and Bowen in defensive midfield and from our wide defenders. 

In attack I would like to see us get the ball to Rosie Whites feet more often, she is looking strong on the ball.

Good luck girls. 

Ferns really holding there own, should have been 2 nil up.

another great chance wasted...

What a horrible goal to concede in injury time dammit

They played well but as the commentator pointed out with 10 minutes to go they dropped deeper and invited the Dutch on. Not sure Wilkinson should be there as she looked well off the pace, as you would expect from someone who has been out for a year. Her losing the ball easily near halfway was crucial in the lead up to the goal.

Percival, Bowen, Erceg, Stott and Bott all immense. Gregorius will be ruing that 2nd half miss but if they play like that v Canada they have a good chance

I thought they were set up well by the coach defensively. They were set up to defend so that they could counter attack and I thought they did that part of it well. Really disciplined and controlled.  They got that part right. Going forward it was mostly long and direct. The problem with long and direct is that you will always lose the ball frequently. I just wish they would counter with fast break outs and quick passing.  I was pretty pessimistic about our chances but on that showing I think our players are better than I gave them credit. I think they are capable of quick passing counter attacks. I think maybe its time for this team to maybe think of trying the approach of the mens U20 side when attacking, we certainly have a few players capable of it, Chance, Longo, Gregorious, Cleverley, Satchel, Riley, Bowen, Hassett are all capable of carrying the ball forward successfully and also capable of quick passing going forward.

That was heartbreaking for the ladies but I now think they are capable of winning the next two games which I wasnt before. 

Surely we have moved on from playing someone who just has height. Hannah Wilkinson has appalling skills and it cost us when she lamely gave away the ball that led to Holland's goal.

We certainly had our chances and were unlucky not to score.

Gutting loss.

I thought there starting line up was great. Then they brought on the subs..

Best game I've seen them play this year. Really gutted for them to concede right at the end. Thought they were deserving of a draw. But if they can continue to play at that level they are more than a good chance to get something out of the Canada game. Was good to see a bit more confidence on the ball with less number of error and better decision making. The chances that we did create the shots were on target which was good. forced there goalkeeper into having to make top class saves, keep that up and we can put a few into the back of the net in the next game. Credit to the team, they played extremely well against a top dutch team.

Thought Longo was good when she came on. had good energy and impact. When the other two subs came on I think our tactics changed to staying compact in defence and hitting the fresh attackers with long balls. basically playing for the draw. Always dangerous though when you do that and let teams come at you. 

In hindsight Tom probably should have left White on. She is good at dropping back and battling for the ball.

I do struggle with watching the team play long ball counter attack football, I really think we are capable of playing a more passing game. Hope Botts injury isnt too serious but it looked bad.

https://twitter.com/SebyPitek/status/1139976173457461248

Looks very bad

Yeah that looks like it could have broken a bone or two. One of our better players too, that would make two key players out in 2 games.

As much as I dont like the fact we havent strung more than 3 passes together once during the first half the other part to the equation is that Canada are a really good team. On the plus side we have been really well organised defensively.

This is pretty grim watching, NZ offering absolutely nothing.

Think Gregorious has fallen over more times than she has held onto the ball