The Ford Football Ferns have hinted at changes ahead of tomorrow’s friendly against Morocco.

The match in Malaga, Spain will be the second fixture for the Ferns in this international window after the 2-1 defeat to Haiti over the weekend.

Ford Football Ferns defender Kate Taylor says the team has responded well following the result in the last match.

“I think it kind of started yesterday for us, which is quite positive and we were given the morning off to do what we needed to do individually and you know, spend time together if we wanted to.

“We had a good team review last night and I think today we've really switched on to our next game. I think that's important to kind of review the last game and then switch into obviously it's a new team, new tactics.”

Michael Mayne says he’s keen for his side to take lessons out of the come from behind loss against the Caribbean nation.

“We will make a few changes to the lineup and it's an opportunity for other players to step in and take some responsibility and show what they can do with that starting spot.

“I think after disappointing results, but probably more for that one, like disappointing performances, you know, we felt like we had to get really honest quite quickly and that's staff and players.

“We were bitterly disappointed because we just haven't given a good account of ourselves, particularly in that first half. 

“I thought the second half and our impact players were really, strong and we were in it to the end, we got out a bit more quality than we did in that first half.  So, yeah, that's been the main thing. We've changed, again, a few things just to see how they work for us ahead of this game.

“The last couple of days has been moving through, I guess, those emotions quite quickly to then refocus because Morocco are going to pose us a whole different problem.”

Mayne says the African side, 64th on the FIFA rankings, will challenge New Zealand in different ways compared to Haiti.

“From what we've seen, like, they've got a lot of stability in the coach that's been there straight after the last World Cup.

“Look, they're very structured, they're very, very technical players and like I've said before, you can't look at rankings or anything like this with the Moroccan team. 

“They're a strong side that are going to look to really govern the ball. So, I think off the back of the last two tours we've had, this is the types of games exactly what I wanted to sort of, I guess, shock us back into international football, but allow us to really look at in and out of possession against these teams and we had that the first game.”

The Ford Football Ferns kick off at 4am Wednesday NZT against Morocco with the game available live and free on TVNZ+ and FIFA+ via DAZN.

Article added: Tuesday 09 June 2026