Tagged with: Football Ferns
You’d be forgiven for having missed this one but the Football Ferns are off to Taiwan for a couple of games in early April. The first of those games is behind closed doors. The coaching staff is still on an interim basis for this one last tour. The squad is very similar to last time…
After going seven months without any fixtures following the Paris Olympics, a two-match tour of Costa Rica felt very much like the start of a fresh chapter for the Football Ferns
It’s been six long months since the Football Ferns last took the pitch. Six months in which a couple of players have retired, some have gotten injured, plenty have had club transfers, and a bunch more have put themselves into the big selection pot
New Zealand teams don’t go to these youth World Cups to make up the numbers. Ever-expanding professional opportunities in Aotearoa and beyond mean more top level players are having their talent nurtured from a younger age
There are seven players in Leon Birnie’s 21-woman squad who are listed with overseas pro clubs (only one of those is an A-League team) and that doesn’t include the seven others who have already made A-League appearances for the Wellington Phoenix
It was three defeats from three for the Football Ferns in Paris, with a 2-1 loss against hosts France closing the door on their Olympic quest for another cycle. But it was a good 2-1 loss.
It started with Matt Garbett dangling a leg and conceding a penalty in the sixth minute. Alex Paulsen did not save it. They conceded again in the twelfth min when the fellas failed to clear a free kick cross. The third was just as scrappy…
A week ago, this game wasn’t a particularly enthralling proposition. The Football Ferns were served with a brutal Olympics group and part of that parcel was facing the defending champs first up. But then the Canadians imploded.
One year on from co-hosting a spectacular World Cup, the Football Ferns have another major tournament to tackle. This time it’s the Paris Olympics. Not nearly as serious as the World Cup but still a big deal... although don’t get your hopes up
These were never likely to be very memorable results and that’s exactly how it panned out. The Football Ferns went to the neutral territory of Spain to meet a very good Japanese team whereupon they lost 2-0 and 4-1.
The club season has been going so hard lately that news of a fresh Football Ferns squad came as a bit of a surprise. But then of course there’s a new Ferns squad because we cannot forget the small matter of an Olympic tournament on the near horizon
What did we need to see from the Football Ferns in these games? Goals, victories, and a confident/ruthless attitude against a weaker opponent. Did we see those things? Yeah, we did... in the first game
Eight months after the World Cup, the Football Ferns are returning to Aotearoa with a pair of games against Thailand. Both games will be hosted in Christchurch, which didn’t get any World Cup matched yet after this series will have hosted as many home games as any other city over the past five years
The Football Ferns are going to the Olympics. As expected, they burst through the Oceania qualifying tournament winning every game and scoring a bunch of goals. They got progressively more efficient from game to game
There are few aspects of the New Zealand football experience more unique than going to Samoa, winning a few double-digit victories, and thus qualifying for a major tournament that only 12 nations on the planet get to participate in
It was five years in November. Five years since the only NZ Football team of any age grade, male or female, to win a knockout game at a FIFA tournament. Not only did they win one, they won two. Including a third-placed playoff.
There were happier ways that the Football Ferns could have brought the historic year that was 2023 to a conclusion... but this was probably the most truthful way.
Multiple Football Ferns coaches over the past decade have talked about trying to modernise the way the team plays. More passing, more movement off the ball, more creativity. That kinda thing
Brace yourself folks because this right here is the most fascinating Football Ferns squad we’ve been handed for a very long time. Even the World Cup squad didn’t compare to this one.
The Football Ferns went to Chile and they lost both games. The first was a disappointing tactical approach in front of a pretty decent local crowd. The second had no crowd at all, in fact it was played behind closed doors.