The New Zealand women's football team fell 4-1 to world No1 the United States in the opening match of a two-game series in San Francisco today.
In front of a crowd of more than 16,000 at Candlestick Park, the home side flexed their muscle in the first half, the strength and pressing defence of Tom Sermanni's side disrupting the Football Ferns' attempts to build possession phases from the back, resulting in a 3-0 halftime advantage.
But New Zealand, ranked 19th in the world, grew in confidence and were rewarded for their bright start to the second half as Hannah Wilkinson got the New Zealanders on the scoreboard.
Coach Tony Readings said: "We were quite nervy in the first 10 minutes against a team who play at a different level from anyone else we've played this year."
Readings acknowledged several key performances across the team including solid contributions from Ria Percival, Ali Riley and Annalie Longo as the Football Ferns now look to Thursday's second match of the series in Colombus, Ohio.
