Whangārei's Hannah Wilkinson celebrates scoring the opening goal during the Women's World Cup soccer match against Norway in Auckland on Thursday to give the team its first win ever in the competition.
Whangārei's Hannah Wilkinson celebrates scoring the opening goal during the Women's World Cup soccer match against Norway in Auckland on Thursday to give the team its first win ever in the competition.
In 2011, when Whangārei Football Ferns striker Hannah Wilkinson got the crucial goal that gave the team its first-ever point at a World Cup, her Dad Simon called it a “goal for the ages”.
The proud father, and Whangārei GP, who has had a big influence in Hannah’s career, was still buzzing on Friday after the eyes of the world were on New Zealand, its female football team and his daughter.
“If that one was a goal for the ages [in a 2-2 draw with Mexico in 2011] I don’t know what we can call this. What’s better than the ages? Maybe a goal for the eons, it was that important,” Simon told the Northern Advocate.
He told of his, and the family’s joy, excitement and pride when Hannah’s goal hit the back of the net in the 47th minute and elation when the final whistle went at the end of the historic game.
“It was really just [a feeling] of pure excitement. It’s hard to describe such a great feeling. Everything happened so quickly. It was a very swift passage of play, with four or five passes to get the ball to Hannah and she stayed sharp and focused to put it away,” he said.
“I just erupted and the whole crowd did - it’s something I will never forget and we are just so proud of Hannah.”
Hannah told the Northern Advocate it was amazing to think that all of Northland would be watching her and cheering her on.
“It’s pretty special. The more exposure I can be a part of for women’s football the better - especially in the Far North where it is rugby land. It’s nice to try and get, you know, the Far North exposed.
“I think the way that I made the national team was that I had to move to Auckland. So now we’ve got a team that’s kind of, we’ve got a lot of players from all across New Zealand now and, and, national team coaches are looking at, players across the country, not just Auckland, like it was back when I made the team.
“So I like to think that you could be from anywhere in New Zealand. As long as you’re putting in the hard work and you get under the coaches’ noses, you can make it.”
Hannah said she was pretty sure she would score the goal before even receiving the ball.
“I think the second Jacqui [Hand] got it, I said ‘this is going in’ because it has to. So, I was just really stoked that I could be composed enough to put that away for us,” she said.
“And, it was an amazing team goal. It was something like six touches from the goal kick down. It was so beautiful, you know, it’s just, it kind of sums up our performance. I think we were just so good.”
Simon managed to catch up with Hannah for a few minutes after the game and she was “absolutely glowing”.
“She had this huge grin on her face. We looked at each other and just gave a big, big hug and I told her how proud we were of her,” Simon said.
“I must have had a tear or two in my eye as she asked ‘are you alright Dad?’. Then all the fans wanted to get selfies with her, so I didn’t get to spend that long with her, but it was so, so special.”
Hannah Wilkinson, then aged 17, faced a new challenge of living without her family - mum Karen, dad Simon and 15-year-old brother Sam - when she moved to Auckland in 2010, with a dream of making a career in football. On Thursday the Football Ferns’ star striker got the goal against Norway that earned the team its first-ever win at a World Cup. Photo / Michael Cunningham
It’s a far cry from when Hannah, who went to Kamo High School, left Whangārei for Auckland as a 17-year-old in 2010, with a dream of making a career in football at a time when women’s football was very much an amateur game.
Hannah now plays professionally for Melbourne City in the Australian Women’s A-League, but Simon says the path to international glory with the Football Ferns has not been easy for her. She has had two anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, which can end a player’s career.
“And not many people know about this, but last year she had an unusual quad injury that kept her out of the game for about half a season and took a long time to rehab from. So she missed so much game time, but to come back from those injuries and still do so well really just shows her amazing resilience and ability to bounce back - she’s so determined.”
Simon said while many people did not expect the Football Ferns to win on Thursday, he had a strong feeling they could do something special, after watching the team play another European footballing powerhouse, Italy, in a closed-door friendly ahead of the tournament.
“Although they lost 1-0 I could see that their style of play had changed. They were able to match Italy’s physicality - and Italy are a very physical team - and there was a real groundshift in the team, they just looked so together and were really playing for each other.
Northland’s Football Ferns striker Hannah Wilkinson ends a swift passage of attacking play with a "goal for the eons" against Norway in the opening match of the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Auckland on Thursday - the team’s first win in a World Cup. Photo / Michael Craig
“I had a strong feeling after watching that game that if they played to that high standard again they would do well - but I never expected this...”
He suspects a big factor in the Football Ferns’ success is the fact it’s a home tournament and that they have been able to spend so much time together.
“In all the other major tournaments they played they’ve had to go through a 17-hour plus flight, in economy class, then have few days’ training ahead of the opening game. This time most of them have been together for nine weeks and they have had two weeks in camp together so they’ve really been able to get that unity going and it really showed [on Thursday].
Simon admits he may be a bit biased, but when asked how far he thinks the Football Ferns can go in the tournament he’s very positive.
“If they keep that form and intensity in their game, anything’s possible!”
