World Cup in sight for duo

The Football Ferns build-up for the World Cup has been without the fanfare that accompanied the All Whites' campaign in South Africa last year but the lack of public attention doesn't mean they are any less focused.
The Ferns' squad contains two Northland girls, 18-year-old striker Hannah Wilkinson and 21-year-old central defender Abby Erceg, and both have played major parts in the build-up campaign.
Wilkinson is one of the youngsters brought into the squad by coach John Herdman to score goals, while Erceg in a relatively short space of time has become one of the side's first-choice defenders. At the Cyprus Cup tournament earlier this year she played her 50th game for New Zealand, an outstanding achievement for a player so young.
It is Erceg's second World Cup after she was a part of the Chinese campaign in 2007, she also returned to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games but both times the team, although far from embarrassed, couldn't manage a win. There's little doubt that the Football Ferns are improving but can they emulate the All Whites in South Africa and punch above their weight?
They have fallen down the Fifa international rankings slightly and now sit in 24th place - making them one of the lowest ranked teams at the tournament.
A win is what they want in Germany when the competition starts on June 26, with perhaps a couple of draws to get them through to the knock-out stages Wilkinson said.
"We want to show everyone what we are really capable of, that we can step up and perform in the big games," Wilkinson said.
The team returned last week from a short tour of Australia and China - losing all of their games but a 1-2 loss against Australia in Gosford and a 0-1 loss to China showed how close they are to breaking through at a major tournament.
"It was disappointing that we can play so well against Australia and China and still not win, we were so close in fact we showed we were the better team at times (during those games)," she added.
Last week's performance was the closest they have ever got to beating China - one of the powerhouses of the women's game - in 12 attempts. The Ferns dominated large parts of the game, although fell short in front of goal and if they are to impress in Germany they will need to take their chances.
The Kiwis go into camp on Monday to prepare before leaving on June 12. The squad will play a couple of friendlies in Switzerland before the tournament starts on June 26. Their first match is against Japan (ranked #4) the following day, with other group games against England (#10) and Mexico (#22).
The final squad will be named on June 7, with few changes expected to be made to the squad that toured Australia and China. One change is certain however, an extra goalkeeper will make the trip, meaning at least one player will miss the final cut.
Both Northlanders have started the last three matches and are virtual certainties to make the trip.