Football: Going to be tough but Ferns can lift the Cup

Ria Percival believes playing top-10 teams has lifted the Ferns. Photo / Getty

The New Zealand women's football side aren't afraid to set big goals ahead of this years' Women's World Cup.

The Football Ferns will be attending their third consecutive edition of the Fifa showpiece in June, after tournaments in China (2007) and Germany (2011).

Their progress over the last few years has been impressive, with a series of eye-catching results against some of the best teams in the world.

It has left coach Tony Readings pondering the previously unthinkable - that the Ferns could get a lot closer to the trophy than previously imaginable.

"We believe we can win it," said Readings. "It's not something you go publicly shouting from the rooftops but, when asked what you aspirations are, you have to be honest. We are going there to win the World Cup. The players have worked so hard and, if you are going there to achieve anything less, it doesn't really do the team justice.

"We have shown we can compete against the top teams in the world. We know it's going to be tough - and on the outside most people would say it's not possible - but this group of players have a really strong belief."

The 18th-ranked Ferns showed glimpses of their potential last week in the international tri-series in Auckland. They held North Korea (world No7) to a 1-1 draw, before a narrow 3-2 loss to Australia (world No10) after they had been 3-0 down at halftime.

It's become par for the course for the New Zealand team, who have gone to a new level since reaching the knockout stages at the 2012 Olympics. They have achieved draws away against the world and Olympic champions (Japan and US respectively), beaten the likes of Brazil, Norway and Denmark and achieved two draws against Australia, the first results against their transtasman rivals in almost two decades.

"The big teams don't really faze us any more," Readings said.

"We are so used to playing them, we have played them so regularly they are just teams to us who we need to beat on any given day. We know we are getting better but we also realise there's a lot of room for improvement."

Ria Percival has witnessed the team's evolution first-hand. Still only 25, she won her 100th cap against North Korea last Tuesday and has been a regular in the side since 2006.

"Our style is probably our biggest change," Percival said. "We are actually about possession football now, more than we ever probably have. The last few years we have set our minds to playing football. We are playing against a lot of top-10 teams now and you have to play football against them to compete."

The exposure has helped. In 2005 and 2006, the team played just three games, and their only wins in 2007 came against Pacific teams.

"It has come a long way," Percival said. "Back then, we were so under-developed and young. We have so much experience now and even our younger players have played so many games and that is the main preparation for these big tournaments."

The Football Ferns will return to their clubs this week before reassembling next month for two games against Spain and a clash with the US in St Louis.

They will also face Japan in Kagawa in May.