Felt like a match without a huge amount of quality shown from either team.
We gave Ghana too much time in and near the box and we were lucky they mostlyddidn't make the most of the gifted chances.
Would've liked to have seen a more changed starting line-up being that there was nothing on the line and it would be good to give as many players the experience of playing at a World Cup for their development.
Edit: Just to add something positive to my seemingly bleak comment - I'm happy for Manaia Elliott captaining this tournament, playing all 3 matches and getting her goal today.
She has looked really impressive in the few Kate Sheppard Cup Nix Reserve games I've seen this year as well as a few of her performances early last season in the ALW, so anything that aids her development and makes her more ALW ready is a win in my books
We gave Ghana too much time in and near the box and we were lucky they mostlyddidn't make the most of the gifted chances.
Would've liked to have seen a more changed starting line-up being that there was nothing on the line and it would be good to give as many players the experience of playing at a World Cup for their development.
Edit: Just to add something positive to my seemingly bleak comment - I'm happy for Manaia Elliott captaining this tournament, playing all 3 matches and getting her goal today.
She has looked really impressive in the few Kate Sheppard Cup Nix Reserve games I've seen this year as well as a few of her performances early last season in the ALW, so anything that aids her development and makes her more ALW ready is a win in my books
I feel
Like we could have won the game against Ghana and maybe drawn against Austria. Us beating Japan is as likely as the All Whites beating Spain. What we lack the most is actually game time together. The players looked like they weren’t on the same wavelength most of the time. If we had played 10 matches in the preceding few months before the World Cup I think we would have seen different performances. Possibly starters would be different or the positions that players play would be different too. Even if they played u14 or u15 boys that would still suffice. I don’t think we lack players to hurt the opponents and technically we are waaaay better than we were as a whole ten years ago. Also our fitness has improved out of sight as players are now in full time academies or pro environments. Hardly ever see our players having cramp or having to come off because they are not fit enough. They need more time together as a team/squad.