LOL ! Edit: I just put together my guess at a starting 11 a little while back before seeing the actual one and it's close to the actual one above! Klimkova has Nayler in goal, Bott instead of Stott and Cleverley (who I initially thought of including) instead of Hassett. Shame for Hassett who plays her club football in Iceland.....
A strong squad and the starting line-up could be: Victoria Esson Rebekah Stott / Meikayla Moore / Abby Erceg / Ali Riley Ria Percival / Katie Bowen Paige Satchell / Betsy Hassett / Olivia Chance Hannah Wilkinson
Some very good talent on the bench too like Alfeld (hard to know who will start in goal after Esson's great performance vs. Korea last time out and Alfeld strong in the A-League but needing to be tested at international level), Bunge (we're strong in centre-backs), Bott, Cleverley, Hand, Rennie etc.
Last time New Zealand & Iceland faced off was the 2016 Algarve Cup 3rd place game. It was a 1-1 at full time with Iceland edging the Football Ferns on PKs.
After the first 10 minutes we looked better in possession, but not really creating anything. Need to get Chance into space and facing goal. Use Satchels pace a bit more. Really surprised Esson didn't start after her efforts last game out against Korea.
Considering the entire country of Iceland has a smaller population than Christchurch we should have demolished them.
Do they have international women’s teams of field hockey, netball, basketball, rugby of any international ranking? I presume not and their eggs are primarily in the football basket. Maybe a useful handball team or something.
But oranges and apples comparison I imagine. Plus they have that renowned high quality national football coaching program
Considering the entire country of Iceland has a smaller population than Christchurch we should have demolished them.
Do they have international women’s teams of field hockey, netball, basketball, rugby of any international ranking? I presume not and their eggs are primarily in the football basket. Maybe a useful handball team or something.
But oranges and apples comparison I imagine. Plus they have that renowned high quality national football coaching program
Think hand ball is their number 1 sport But that's not the point. In terms of funding, facilities, access to players, etc. we're miles ahead of iceland so the fact that they're in the top 20 and we're not shows that we're doing plenty wrong. We're hosting a world cup soon, we need huge improvements.
Considering the entire country of Iceland has a smaller population than Christchurch we should have demolished them.
Do they have international women’s teams of field hockey, netball, basketball, rugby of any international ranking? I presume not and their eggs are primarily in the football basket. Maybe a useful handball team or something.
But oranges and apples comparison I imagine. Plus they have that renowned high quality national football coaching program
Think hand ball is their number 1 sport But that's not the point. In terms of funding, facilities, access to players, etc. we're miles ahead of iceland so the fact that they're in the top 20 and we're not shows that we're doing plenty wrong. We're hosting a world cup soon, we need huge improvements.
Do we know that for sure. Iceland has like highest per capita ratio of FIFA accredited coaches in the world. They have a pro women’s league that Fern Hassett plays in and presumably other international players.
You can do a lot with some top coaching (starting with young kids) and a bit of money.
But for sure there are improvements needed to be made with Ferns and Women’s game. Covid hasn’t helped, Ferns pre Olympics basically didn’t play for 18 mths. Nix Women’s team has only just started. And Klimková has been in her job only a few months. Young girls are only just now coming through Weenix & Ole Academies (pathways that have really improved the men's game). Rome wasn’t built in a day
Yup, poor start. But concerned that even after that, the Ferns looked more disjointed than any previous games under Klimkova ... Was that the result of trying to integrate new (senior) players into her playing philosophy & style??
Am really impressed with Paige Satchell's progress over the last couple of seasons. Just goes to show how beneficial a couple of seasons of Pro football can be. Hope she can keep improving and add goals to her high octane game.
Am really impressed with Paige Satchell's progress over the last couple of seasons. Just goes to show how beneficial a couple of seasons of Pro football can be. Hope she can keep improving and add goals to her high octane game.
Yeah to be fair she has turned into more than just a sprinter who dribbled over the byline or shanked a cross - but she still did a massive shank on a simple cross in the game. Interesting to see if she holds down a starting spot
