NZ Ferns v USA | 18 Jan 2023 at 4.00pm Sky Stad | and 21 Jan 2023 at 4.00pm Eden Park

What was the crowd attendance please?

LG

What was the crowd attendance please?

12,700 breaking the 12,500 record of days prior I think is what I heard from the commentators 

imanixsupporter

LG

What was the crowd attendance please?

12,700 breaking the 12,500 record of days prior I think is what I heard from the commentators 

 I wonder what they would've gotten if the games were reversed and Wellington had the weekend game. Could've been massive. With the Nix double header and the International - almost a triple header so to speak.

If the ferns come second in the group, they will very likely vs Spain which has the same talent level as the USA.

With our best team available i don't care whose the coach we should beat phillipines and push Norway especially at home!

My biggest concern is how we are approaching it all these days....accountability and professionalism declining. It worries me.

Captain has already come out and said shes going to use this world cup to be an activist for human rights etc...NO. Concentrate on WINNING games of football. that's your job as captain...that's your job to the fans and stakeholders.

Is Jitka Klimkova strong enough to reign them all in? starting to have my doubts as she's changed her tune dramatically over recent months.

Would it be a stupid idea to get Wayne Smith in there as an environment advisor for lead up through to world cup? just a thought.

Showtime Nixie

With our best team available i don't care whose the coach we should beat phillipines and push Norway especially at home!

My biggest concern is how we are approaching it all these days....accountability and professionalism declining. It worries me.

Captain has already come out and said shes going to use this world cup to be an activist for human rights etc...NO. Concentrate on WINNING games of football. that's your job as captain...that's your job to the fans and stakeholders.

Is Jitka Klimkova strong enough to reign them all in? starting to have my doubts as she's changed her tune dramatically over recent months.

Would it be a stupid idea to get Wayne Smith in there as an environment advisor for lead up through to world cup? just a thought.

I agree, for success in sports mentality is so important. Just look at any all time greats of any sport, the desire to win and the dissatisfaction with failure is pretty much the most important thing to them.

I don't know if this team has a mentality of wanting to win or just being happy to be there but with a world cup coming up winning must be the priority. Anything less than than second in group is failure to me.

Wayne Smith is a great shout there, has all the right experience to provide that sort of service.

Feverish avert your eyes. Oh and if you want to improve mental skills and enhance a winning mentality, Gilbert Enoka is your man. Been the mental skills guru for many years with the ABs.

Smithy is a rugby man through and through. Regarded as a the best technical rugby coach out of NZ. Ryan Nelsen would be a better shout in my view to help instill a hardened winning approach, with a football background. But likely too busy Stateside.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/women-in-sport/131015214/united-states-visit-added-to-world-cup-excitement-but-did-little-to-help-football-ferns

But as far as the bigger picture was concerned, there wasn’t a lot of new information to be gleamed, as the team the Ferns put on park in July is likely to include very few of those who featured.

What’s clear now is that a number of fringe players have probably had their last chance to push for a place in the squad of 23 that will be picked for the World Cup in June.

If there was one bleak moment from a week that could have featured plenty more, it was the sight of Ally Green being replaced half hour into her first Ferns start, purely because she was being overwhelmed by the American attackers.

She was being played out of position at right back, but the player who replaced her, Ashleigh Ward, slotted in at left back, and you had to feel Green should have been given the opportunity to play in her normal position first.

Yea lucky there no other prominent female footballers who have won World Cups or euros while championing other causes…. Honestly, the ignorance

kwlap

Yea lucky there no other prominent female footballers who have won World Cups or euros while championing other causes…. Honestly, the ignorance

Yeah but they're actually good and somewhat famous.

Monto

kwlap

Yea lucky there no other prominent female footballers who have won World Cups or euros while championing other causes…. Honestly, the ignorance

Yeah but they're actually good and somewhat famous.

so! being good and famous doesnt give you the sole tight to make a stand against anything!
Riley has a platform to make a stand and she has the right to use it.

theprof

Monto

kwlap

Yea lucky there no other prominent female footballers who have won World Cups or euros while championing other causes…. Honestly, the ignorance

Yeah but they're actually good and somewhat famous.

so! being good and famous doesnt give you the sole tight to make a stand against anything!
Riley has a platform to make a stand and she has the right to use it.

Generally agree with this but she's the captain of a historically underperforming national team that is coming up to a very important tournament at home that they need to deliver in (at least to some extent!), it's critical for the future of womens football in NZ. It's time to focus on the team around you. 

If she wants to prioritise making a stand, good for her and all power to her but somebody else should be the New Zealand captain. 

morgenstern12

My world cup prediction:
3 points from Philippines
and 1 point from either Norway or Switzerland. We we just sneak in to the second round and obviously lose.

Norway and Switzerland are better than us at the moment. They have better players playing at greater volumes in better leagues and regularly do better than us against better opposition. Norway for example drew 1-1 with England at the end of 2022 (who beat USA, who smashed us twice). 

I'm predicting we beat the Philippines but lose the other two games. 

Yes Norway & Switzerland are better than us, but not massively better like the USA. 

Ferns lost to Norway 2-0 in Oslo last June. Both teams at close to full strength. Norwegians had super star Ada Hegerberg playing. She's missed Norway's last 4-5 games. Maybe's she's fallen out with the Norway FA again??

But in NZ with home support, the Ferns could upset Norway or the Swiss, for sure.

But it won't be 4-3 or anything. It will be a grinding 1-0 result, built on a strong defence of Esson, Bowen, Moore, Stott, Bunge, Riley & Bott giving very little space. Then somehow finding a goal from somewhere. That's the real concern, how do the Ferns score.

The US games were next to useless as far as a guide to the Ferns WC pool. Very few of the players in those 2 games will be starters come July. Next month against Portugal & Argentina x2, will provide a real benchmark.

I think people are dreaming here if they think we’ll achieve more at own WC then only beating the Philippines.  

We look poor and unlikely to change that any time soon.  

From the outside looking in, it seems the players have already mentally come to that decision and have their minds elsewhere.

Marto

I think people are dreaming here if they think we’ll achieve more at own WC then only beating the Philippines.  

We look poor and unlikely to change that any time soon.  

From the outside looking in, it seems the players have already mentally come to that decision and have their minds elsewhere.

Another Harsh reality is that Switzerland and Norway both have players playing in Fc Barcelona, and the other top European clubs like PSG, Arsenal, Man utd, Bayern, Chelsea, Man city. 

I also see no scrutiny or pressure from the NZ media of the football ferns, unlike what the Australian media are expecting of the matildas (at least quarters)

lthomas20

morgenstern12

My world cup prediction:
3 points from Philippines
and 1 point from either Norway or Switzerland. We we just sneak in to the second round and obviously lose.

Norway and Switzerland are better than us at the moment. They have better players playing at greater volumes in better leagues and regularly do better than us against better opposition. Norway for example drew 1-1 with England at the end of 2022 (who beat USA, who smashed us twice). 

I'm predicting we beat the Philippines but lose the other two games. 

And Switzerland?

 

coochiee

Yes Norway & Switzerland are better than us, but not massively better like the USA. 

Ferns lost to Norway 2-0 in Oslo last June. Both teams at close to full strength. Norwegians had super star Ada Hegerberg playing. She's missed Norway's last 4-5 games. Maybe's she's fallen out with the Norway FA again??

But in NZ with home support, the Ferns could upset Norway or the Swiss, for sure.

But it won't be 4-3 or anything. It will be a grinding 1-0 result, built on a strong defence of Esson, Bowen, Moore, Stott, Bunge, Riley & Bott giving very little space. Then somehow finding a goal from somewhere. That's the real concern, how do the Ferns score.

The US games were next to useless as far as a guide to the Ferns WC pool. Very few of the players in those 2 games will be starters come July. Next month against Portugal & Argentina x2, will provide a real benchmark.

Switzerland look as bad as us from their results and are only one ranking point higher than us. So a draw at home is totally possible.

Exactly. Friendlies as always can be misleading. A few years ago we beat England in England. Who knows how strong their side was recently against Norway. We really have no idea.

We should be getting results at full strength against Portugal and Argentina. We don’t when at home and at full strength then yes time for knives for Klimkova and a wave of negativity 

But nuts at this stage to say we can’t get draws against Switzerland and Norway. Or even beat them

Getting out of the pool is definitely posible after that likely not much

coochiee

Exactly. Friendlies as always can be misleading. A few years ago we beat England in England. Who knows how strong their side was recently against Norway. We really have no idea.

We should be getting results at full strength against Portugal and Argentina. We don’t when at home and at full strength then yes time for knives for Klimkova and a wave of negativity 

But nuts at this stage to say we can’t get draws against Switzerland and Norway. Or even beat them

Getting out of the pool is definitely posible after that likely not much

It’s nice to see your being positive but no recent Ferns results supports this positivity, even with our best XI. Recent history suggests results later this year will not be to our liking.

Marto

coochiee

Exactly. Friendlies as always can be misleading. A few years ago we beat England in England. Who knows how strong their side was recently against Norway. We really have no idea.

We should be getting results at full strength against Portugal and Argentina. We don’t when at home and at full strength then yes time for knives for Klimkova and a wave of negativity 

But nuts at this stage to say we can’t get draws against Switzerland and Norway. Or even beat them

Getting out of the pool is definitely posible after that likely not much

It’s nice to see your being positive but no recent results for us, even with our best XI, suggest results later this year will be in our favour.

If they can draw with South Korea ranked 17, they can draw with Switzerland ranked 21.

morgenstern12

I also see no scrutiny or pressure from the NZ media of the football ferns, unlike what the Australian media are expecting of the matildas (at least quarters)

that's because the NZ media in general pay not attention to football at all! Let alone women's football. There will be more attention when the WC gets closer but right no they're not interested.

Ted Striker

Marto

coochiee

Exactly. Friendlies as always can be misleading. A few years ago we beat England in England. Who knows how strong their side was recently against Norway. We really have no idea.

We should be getting results at full strength against Portugal and Argentina. We don’t when at home and at full strength then yes time for knives for Klimkova and a wave of negativity 

But nuts at this stage to say we can’t get draws against Switzerland and Norway. Or even beat them

Getting out of the pool is definitely posible after that likely not much

It’s nice to see your being positive but no recent results for us, even with our best XI, suggest results later this year will be in our favour.

If they can draw with South Korea ranked 17, they can draw with Switzerland ranked 21.

European teams tend to be stronger than teams from other confederations, remember 7 of the 8 quarter finalists in the 2019 world cup were European, and when was the last time we beat a European team in a competitive match?.

morgenstern12

Ted Striker

Marto

coochiee

Exactly. Friendlies as always can be misleading. A few years ago we beat England in England. Who knows how strong their side was recently against Norway. We really have no idea.

We should be getting results at full strength against Portugal and Argentina. We don’t when at home and at full strength then yes time for knives for Klimkova and a wave of negativity 

But nuts at this stage to say we can’t get draws against Switzerland and Norway. Or even beat them

Getting out of the pool is definitely posible after that likely not much

It’s nice to see your being positive but no recent results for us, even with our best XI, suggest results later this year will be in our favour.

If they can draw with South Korea ranked 17, they can draw with Switzerland ranked 21.

European teams tend to be stronger than teams from other confederations, remember 7 of the 8 quarter finalists in the 2019 world cup were European, and when was the last time we beat a European team in a competitive match?.

Recent competitive games against Euro opposition.
At She Beleives Cup 2022 in the USA.
Lost 1-0 to Iceland that are ranked above us and Switzerland
Drew 0-0 with Czech you are ranked a bit below us.
At 2020 Olympics.
Lost 2-0 to Sweden who area currently ranked #3.

Not far off. But obvious pattern is lack of goal scoring. 

I think we will have enough to get out of the group, especially with returning players and home crowd. You saw that with the rugby women...it makes a huge difference. We will dispatch Phillipines and i believe we will get past Norway on opening night, it will be a massive occasion. 

I would just like to see a more serious approach in the next games vs Portugal and Argentina series. The worry for me is that this is becoming Ali Rileys team and not Jitka Klimkova, she's changed her tune of late...shes gone away from accountability and ownership or performances and results.  She seems timid to me. She needs to put her stamp on this side again. I think she can coach and has ability to do well but i guess in todays world she's potentially scared to do that an upset the nest.

She wont change Riley as the captain because Riley got her the job but i would love to see Katie Bowen captain this side at this world cup. True and proper kiwi who rolls her sleeves up for the right reasons and performs close to her best more times than not. A captain focussed on football and winning its crucial at a WC.

We could be capable of surprising ourselves if we get this all right. I carry great optimism from the rugby woman and what they achieved on home soil....i now we won't win but do we have 1 or 2 upsets in us? maaaaaybe. I think we will score goals, i think Wilkinson will have a world cup and we should be more stable and at the back. Time will tell!!

We need to learn from the mistakes qatar made at the opening night.

Ted Striker

Marto

coochiee

Exactly. Friendlies as always can be misleading. A few years ago we beat England in England. Who knows how strong their side was recently against Norway. We really have no idea.

We should be getting results at full strength against Portugal and Argentina. We don’t when at home and at full strength then yes time for knives for Klimkova and a wave of negativity 

But nuts at this stage to say we can’t get draws against Switzerland and Norway. Or even beat them

Getting out of the pool is definitely posible after that likely not much

It’s nice to see your being positive but no recent results for us, even with our best XI, suggest results later this year will be in our favour.

If they can draw with South Korea ranked 17, they can draw with Switzerland ranked 21.

We were lucky to draw with South Korea, AND that was at home. 

I see people saying we will get through with 4 pts. I think we will need 5 or 6 pts. 

Norway and Switzerland have some very good attacking players. So I could see them putting quite a few past Philippines. I'd be surprised if we got more than 3. 

lthomas20

Ted Striker

Marto

coochiee

Exactly. Friendlies as always can be misleading. A few years ago we beat England in England. Who knows how strong their side was recently against Norway. We really have no idea.

We should be getting results at full strength against Portugal and Argentina. We don’t when at home and at full strength then yes time for knives for Klimkova and a wave of negativity 

But nuts at this stage to say we can’t get draws against Switzerland and Norway. Or even beat them

Getting out of the pool is definitely posible after that likely not much

It’s nice to see your being positive but no recent results for us, even with our best XI, suggest results later this year will be in our favour.

If they can draw with South Korea ranked 17, they can draw with Switzerland ranked 21.

We were lucky to draw with South Korea, AND that was at home. 

No Ali Riley, Bott (Moore at RB), Stott or Wilkinson. No idea how strong the Koreans were.
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2022/11/15/world/friendly-women/new-zealand/korea-republic/3970787/

Despite all the criticism she gets Wilkinson remains easily the Ferns best striker. Ferns won't score many at the WC (though hopefully a few in the Philippines game), but Wilko remains their best hope of nabbing one against Norway & Switzerland.

Oh & hopefully Longo plus Percival can be in the mix as well. Percival is back training in the UK.

I imagine there will be a few causes highlighted during the WWC. Personally I have no problem with that. Sport can be a vehicle for a change for good.

But yes hopefully the main focus is the football, and the fact that females can play it very very well.

https://twitter.com/NarelleSindos/status/1616962623995793409

Looking forward to the Portugal and Argentina series. It will give us a fair idea where we will be at personal wise in terms of selections for WC and where the teams head space at is in the bigger scheme of things. 

No more DJing no more kicks n giggles. Time to get down to business. 

Lets go!

Showtime Nixie

Looking forward to the Portugal and Argentina series. It will give us a fair idea where we will be at personal wise in terms of selections for WC and where the teams head space at is in the bigger scheme of things. 

No more DJing no more kicks n giggles. Time to get down to business. 

Lets go!

 I think the ferns will beat Portugal, the Portuguese will be playing not to get injured before their do or die match against Thailand/Cameroon.

lthomas20

Ted Striker

Marto

coochiee

Exactly. Friendlies as always can be misleading. A few years ago we beat England in England. Who knows how strong their side was recently against Norway. We really have no idea.

We should be getting results at full strength against Portugal and Argentina. We don’t when at home and at full strength then yes time for knives for Klimkova and a wave of negativity 

But nuts at this stage to say we can’t get draws against Switzerland and Norway. Or even beat them

Getting out of the pool is definitely posible after that likely not much

It’s nice to see your being positive but no recent results for us, even with our best XI, suggest results later this year will be in our favour.

If they can draw with South Korea ranked 17, they can draw with Switzerland ranked 21.

We were lucky to draw with South Korea, AND that was at home. 

Not sure what your point is. I am saying they will be playing Switzerland at Home who are of a lower rank than Korea. This NZ team also beat Korea 2-0 in Korea at the end of 2021. You say they were lucky to tie Korea at home, so what? They still did it. So it is possible against lower ranked opposition.

I think it would be a huge upset if the ferns beat Norway. Norway has made it out of the group in every wwc except 2011, and with an all time record of 24 wins, 4 draws, and 12 losses. They also have an excellent qualification record by always qualifying directly in the UEFA groups, and in the 2023 group they won 9 games and drew against Poland away from home.

I don't think getting in a male to talk about performance will sit well with this current side, but someone like Noeline Taurua could do a good job

Yeah great call that! I heard her after match interview on silver ferns page today! Highly recommend a listen.  Absolute Gem she is! A dream coach! Honest and upfront about performances and accountability from not only her players but herself. She leaves no stone un-turned. 

Someone here compared the Ferns WC with the ladies RWC win. Chalk and cheese. No one but NZ and England takes women’s rugby seriously and we only won that due to an English brain explosion. It would have been a hiding for us had she not done that.

The real World Cup will have at least 18 really competitive teams with sides like us making up the numbers.  I still think people expect to much of this side.  If Wilkinson and Nayler keep getting runs we have no chance.

Nayler will be 3rd choice keeper at best, whilst Wilkinson despite her limitations is still the Ferns no 1 striker. Who would you possibly start ahead of her?

Marto

Someone here compared the Ferns WC with the ladies RWC win. Chalk and cheese. No one but NZ and England takes women’s rugby seriously and we only won that due to an English brain explosion. It would have been a hiding for us had she not done that.

The real World Cup will have at least 18 really competitive teams with sides like us making up the numbers.  I still think people expect to much of this side.  If Wilkinson and Nayler keep getting runs we have no chance.

Expect too much from this side? They've had ridiculous amount of funding for over a decade now from HPSNZ!! They've had many overseas tournaments and experiences! Most players are playing professionally!!  Expect too much? come on. They should be far more advanced than what they are as a product.

Showtime Nixie

Marto

Someone here compared the Ferns WC with the ladies RWC win. Chalk and cheese. No one but NZ and England takes women’s rugby seriously and we only won that due to an English brain explosion. It would have been a hiding for us had she not done that.

The real World Cup will have at least 18 really competitive teams with sides like us making up the numbers.  I still think people expect to much of this side.  If Wilkinson and Nayler keep getting runs we have no chance.

Expect too much from this side? They've had ridiculous amount of funding for over a decade now from HPSNZ!! They've had many overseas tournaments and experiences! Most players are playing professionally!!  Expect too much? come on. They should be far more advanced than what they are as a product.

My point exactly. If the men had had as much support we would have been in Qatar.

We need to face the reality that many of our best Ferns were not real kiwis and that the golden generation 10 years back have moved on. 

While we do have some very promising talent coming through, we are being left in the starting blocks by most other footballing nations now they have decent investment too.