The Football Ferns area heading to Santiago. Photo / Michael Craig
The Football Ferns area heading to Santiago. Photo / Michael Craig
The Football Ferns schedule for the rest of 2023 is taking shape, with confirmation of two matches in Chile later this month.
The New Zealand team will travel to Santiago during the next Fifa international window, less than two months after the end of their Women’s World Cupadventure.
They won’t play in October – due to the extra games against the United States in January, which were outside the official Fifa calendar – before reconvening again in November for two more matches.
Coach Jitka Klimkova said they were close to confirming the opposition, though the contract was not signed yet.
“We are aiming for the confederations that we are not so familiar with, that we have not played so many games against,” Klimkova told the Herald.
That would indicate either African or South American opponents. Across Klimkova’s tenure, the Ferns have faced Asian teams 10 times, CONCACAF nations on six occasions and had nine games against UEFA teams, including two at the World Cup. But they have only faced one African nation (Nigeria in April) and had two matches against South American opposition, with the one series against Argentina earlier this year.
Football Ferns
The second match against Chile will be behind closed doors, at their request. Klimkova is happy to get back together so quickly, to build on the progress and lessons from the World Cup. It’s the start of a new cycle but don’t expect drastic changes in personnel.
Klimkova aims to keep encouraging and developing the younger players, who had performed so well at the World Cup but also wanted to maintain the “right balance of experience and youth”. She hasn’t received retirement notice from any players, even though the World Cup was expected to be the curtain call for the likes of Ali Riley and Annalie Longo.
“I’m knocking on wood, there were no announcements made,” said Klimkova. “That was positive, that players are keen to keep going, keep competing and that is what we need as a team. I’m very happy that everyone is still in.”
She is also thrilled with the recent transfer moves in the wake of the World Cup, with Paige Satchell (England), Indiah Paige-Riley (Netherlands), Malia Steinmetz (Denmark) and Claudia Bunge (Denmark) all moving to European clubs.
“It’s another huge win - it has been so positive,” said Klimkova. “One of our goals was for them to have this kind of opportunity and this is what we need, players to be in professional leagues, be challenged and be pushed year round and that is what they are going to be. That is how they are going to improve much quicker.”
After a trip to Sydney for the World Cup final – and a short break in Northland – Klimkova is back into her work, preparing for world No 41 Chile. They are ranked the fourth best team in South America, with recent 4-0 defeats to both Brazil and Argentina. They just missed World Cup qualification, losing to Haiti during the playoff tournament in Auckland last February.
“They have a lot of technical players who are confident on the ball, similar to Argentina,” said Klimkova. “They are growing in their tactical abilities and they have a new coach, so they could be a little bit unpredictable.”
