With just a day to go until the Ford Football Ferns play their first game of 2022, head coach Jitka Klimková is crystal clear about what she wants her side to achieve at the SheBelieves Cup.

“We have three goals for this tournament” she says.

“The first one: this is great preparation for our group play in the World Cup. We are simulating the kind of situation that we are going to face in July in 2023, when we are going to play three different opposition in quite a short time. So in the SheBelieves Cup we are preparing for that - we want to advance from the group. That's the goal for the World Cup, and that's the goal for the SheBelieves Cup.

“Second, I we know we started in October and we are building on things that we already have: attacking wise, defending wise, mentality wise. We are building on 2021, and we want to start the same way we finished our 2021.

“And the third goal is we really want to be courageous. We want to take the risks, we want to play with that kind of mentality in the future. We have three games in front of us and every game is going to be different. We want to go for the risks. It’s a really good time to try things.”

Ford Football Ferns open their SheBelieves Cup against Iceland. Credit: Photosport

Looking at the Ford Football Ferns’ first opponents, Iceland, who are 16th on the FIFA rankings, Klimková is well aware of the challenges they’ll pose in the opening game of the SheBelieves Cup.

“Iceland historically are a very experienced, very organized, very physical team. Even if they are organised in defence, we can see some spaces we can exploit – we know they're very zonal-oriented, and if they play in 4-3-3 formation, their triangle in the middle is quite narrow - so maybe the spaces around that triangle can help us.

“The third thing defensively where we can put Iceland in trouble, is that their wing backs have a bit of a tendency to mark. So if we’re smart with our movement and actually drag those wing backs away from their spots and use that space behind them, that can be very efficient.”

Iceland quick facts

• Currently second in Group C of the UEFA qualifiers for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. In the UEFA qualifiers, the group winners automatically qualify for the tournament while second place finishers go into the playoffs.
• Iceland closed out 2021 with a 4-0 win over Cyprus in qualifiers
• The Ford Football Ferns have only played Iceland once before, at the 2016 Algarve Cup.The two sides drew 1-1 in regular time when Aotearoa New Zealand’s record goal scorer Amber Hearn scored her 50^th international goal, but the Ferns eventually went down 6-5 on penalties to finish fourth in the Cup overall.

Iceland squad

Goalkeepers: Sandra Sigurdardottir, Cecilia Ran Runarsdottir, Telma Ivarsdottir.

Defenders: Hallbera Gudny Gisladottir, Glodis Perla Viggosdottir, Sif Atladottir, Elisa Vidarsdottir, Ingibjorg Sigurdardottir, Gudrun Arnardottir, Asta Eir Arnadottir, Natasha Anasi.

Midfielders: Dagny Brynjarsdottir, Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir, Agla María Albertsdottir, Alexandra Johannsdottir, Selma Sol Magnusdottir, Karolina Lea Vilhjalmsdottir, Karitas Tomasdottir, Amanda Andradottir, Ida Marin Hermannsdottir.

Forwards: Berglind Bjorg Thorvaldsdottir, Svava Ros Gudmundsdottir, Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir.

Who to watch out for: Dagny Brynjarsdottir plies her trade for West Ham United in the FAWSL, Karolina Lea Vilhjalmsdottir lines up for Bayern Munich, while Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir is a former teammate of Ford Football Ferns captain Ali Riley at Orlando Pride.

Match details

Kick off 5pm 17 February / 2pm 18 February (PT/NZT) Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California. Watch live on Sky Sport.

Article added: Thursday 17 February 2022