Soccer: Football Fern aims for World Cup progress

Rebecca Smith plays in Germany, which is hosting the World Cup. Photo / Doug Sherring

Even if she wanted to, Rebecca Smith can't get away from the fact the Women's World Cup will be in Germany in June and July.

The Football Ferns captain plays professionally in Germany and is bombarded with it every day. When she drives to work, it's on massive hoardings that line the road.

Buses chug past like mobile billboards and city hallmarks in Wolfsburg, where she lives, are covered in massive posters of players and dates. It is as close as Smith will get to playing a World Cup at home.

"It's going to be huge," the central defender says excitedly. "The Women's World Cup is everywhere. They have been planning this for four years."

The 29-year-old has been playing for Wolfsburg in the women's Bundesliga since February 2009 and had a stint with Frankfurt when she first joined the professional ranks in 2004.

She is now one of five professionals in the Football Ferns and represents the changing face of the side under coach John Herdman. The squad gathered in New Zealand this week from Germany, the US, England, Sweden and New Zealand.

They head off on Tuesday to take on Australia in two internationals in Gosford before flying to China for a further two matches as final preparations for the World Cup begin.

New Zealand have been drawn alongside England, Japan and Mexico and there is an expectation the Football Ferns might be on the verge of achieving their best results in history.

They are presently ranked 24 in the world but have beaten Italy (12) and the Netherlands (14), and drawn with France (7), Canada (6) and England (10) in recent times. They even made last year's Cyprus Cup final before losing 1-0 to Canada.

They aren't likely to get near the World Cup final, with Germany, the US and Brazil among the favourites, but there is quiet optimism they could advance to the second round for the first time. The fourth-ranked Japanese loom as their most difficult opponents but New Zealand believe they can topple both England and Mexico (22).

"The cool thing about this tournament is no one really knows," Smith says. "Football has developed so much in the last five years, it's taken on a new face. Players are much fitter, faster and play better football.

"All the teams that were lagging have really caught up. That gap between the top and bottom is a lot smaller now so I think we'll see a lot more upsets and quality football [at the World Cup].

"But I think we will be really disappointed if we don't make it out of our group. That's the minimum goal."

It didn't seem like that would ever be possible earlier in her international career. It was marked by heavy defeats, constant coaching changes and football politics. After one game at a tournament in Australia in 2004, she walked off the pitch almost ready to pack it in.

"That was a turning point for me," she says. "I had graduated from college and was working full-time and playing semi-pro in Southern California. I was a captain of a national team that had just got spanked 11-0 by North Korea and I thought: 'Nah, that's nothing I want to be a part of. Either I do it 100 per cent and I lead this team or I quit'. There's no point representing your country like that. It was embarrassing."

She organised three trials with professional clubs in Norway as well as one with Frankfurt and has been a professional since. She will play her 50th A international against Australia on Thursday (becoming the ninth New Zealand woman to achieve the mark) and has played 57 times for the Football Ferns in all.

In 2007, she received a nomination for Fifa's Women's World Player of the Year - the only player from Oceania ever to receive a nomination.

Rebecca Smith

Age: 29.

Club: VfL Wolfsburg (German Bundesliga)

Previous clubs: Frankfurt (Germany), Sunnana SK (Sweden), Newcastle Jets (Australia).

* Smith was born in Los Angeles but both of her parents are Kiwis.

* Her uncle, Richard Wilson, played two tests for the All Blacks in 1979 as a fullback.