Football: Former Ferns coach has no room for sentiment

Team Canada's head coach John Herdman and Kadeisha Buchanan talk during a practice session in Edmonton, Alberta. Photo / AP.

Canada coach John Herdman used to be the leading light in New Zealand Women's football, but today he is public enemy number one.

Herdman, who coached the Ferns from 2006-2011, fired a few shots at his former team in a pre-match press conference yesterday and made it clear he believes Canada have the Ferns all figured out ahead of their World Cup clash today.

"Very clearly, we're a better team ... And I think quality for quality, we're a better team than New Zealand," said Herdman. "All their goals come from a set-piece or a pass from Hannah Wilkinson. 'Where's Wilki?' is one of the themes for this game. If you stop Wilkinson you'll deal with them."

The Ferns earned their first ever point at a FIFA Women's World Cup under Herdman's tutelage four years ago and finished above Canada in the final standings - a feat Herdman said was accomplished using a 30th of the budget and a tenth of the population. Less than two months later he was Canada's coach.

Tomorrow, Herdman faces his former assistant Tony Readings and a team full of girls he helped develop, in front of 30,000 fans at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium.

"My biggest fear in this World Cup was coming up against your old team and how that can impact you and make you go a little bit crazy in decisions," Herdman said.

"I made a promise that I wouldn't let my ego get in my way and this wouldn't be about me beating my old team, just getting six points."

Canada, ranked eighth in the world, is coming off a 1-0 win over No. 16 China while No. 17 New Zealand was beaten 1-0 by the 12th-ranked Netherlands in the other opening Group A match.

The Ferns dominated possession for large spells against the Netherlands but struggled to create many clear goal scoring opportunities.

"We feel we have a real strong understanding on how Canada will play," said Readings.

"Every team here knows about their opposition, it just comes down to who can execute the best on the day - that's going to be the challenge tomorrow."

"The fact we are playing against a coach who used to be in charge of this team doesn't really change too much for us."

The top two from each group progress to the Round of 16 as well as the four best third-placed finishers.