The road to a FIFA Women’s World Cup is not always a straightforward one as the Football Ferns will find out today in New Caledonia in the OFC Women’s Nations Cup.

The Tom Sermanni coached-side, who went through Group B undefeated to set up a semi-final against hosts New Caledonia, will fly from Noumea in the same plane as their opposition to the island of Lifou for the match. There is not enough accommodation on the island, so the Ferns and New Caledonia will complete the 40 minute flight, have a meal at a local hotel, play the game and then fly back to Noumea.

Football Ferns captain Ali Riley has experienced most things in her international career, where she has amassed 117 caps, but never something like this. It is expected to be hot on Lifou and the game will be played on an artificial turf.

“We knew that being in this group, the first seed from our group would be playing on a different island, but it kind of seemed like in the distant future before and now that it is here, it is pretty crazy and pretty exciting,” said the 31-year-old from the Chelsea Football Club.  “It is nothing that I have done before and I have asked around a little bit and no one has done this before. We are nervous and excited and it goes along with how this trip has gone so far, a lot of new experiences and fun.”

Riley said the quality of the turf may not be as good as the surface they have been playing on at the Stade Numa-Daly Magenta in Nouméa for the group stages but they will adapt.  

“These are things that we cannot control. We are just going to go over there, take the game to them. It is hard to predict how they are going to play, you get to a semi-final and it is go big or go home, we are so excited.”

Sermanni expects that his team, five time champions of the OFC Women’s Nations Cup, will take the challenges of their semi-final match day in stride.

“We have got a really resilient group here. It is going to be interesting. The fact that we are flying to a venue on Lifou Island on the day of the game and then flying back afterwards will have certain challenges and will be dependent on other factors like the weather. It is what it is. The team are in a good place at the moment and they are looking forward to the challenge.”

The hugely experienced Scot, who took over the Ferns only a few weeks ago, said his team has made huge progress in a short time. They defeated Tonga 11-0, the Cook Islands 6-0 and Fiji 10-0 to qualify top of Group B.

“I have been really pleased with what I have seen so far. I have been pleased with the effort of the players and really pleased with the cohesion of the players both on and off the field. They are a really great group to work with. They get on with stuff, they are not high maintenance, and they are probably the noisiest team I think I have had,” he said. 

“We have managed in the games to give most players a decent hit out so we have seen almost all of the players in action. Up until now it is has been a very positive tour for us.”

Riley sat out the 10-0 win over Fiji on Sunday afternoon and is looking forward to a big game. She said the way Sermanni has rotated his squad has been refreshing both literally and figuratively. 

“It has been great to see the young players come in and be given a chance to shine. They have really impressed and that allows some players to rest and we keep rotating so we have a fresh squad. We will have some energetic legs tomorrow and also an experienced team.”

Riley said the team are not taking anything for granted. With qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics on the line, they are preparing for a tough battle and expect New Caledonia will be hard to break down.

“It has been difficult,” said Riley on scoring against defensive teams. “We have still been able, with combination play and crosses from out wide, been able to score those goals relatively early and then we are able to relax a little bit, and then when we relax we play a bit better. We will try and do the same thing against New Caledonia but that being said we don’t know how they are going to approach the game. We don’t know if they will sit back and look to counter or if they will try to take it to us.”

The Football Ferns taking on New Caledonia in the OFC Women’s Nations Cup semi-final is live on www.oceaniafootball.com from 5pm today.   

OFC Women’s Nations Cup
Semi-Final
New Zealand v New Caledonia
Wednesday 28 November
Live on www.oceaniafootball.com from 5pm  
#OFCWNC

New Zealand (from): 1. Erin Nayler (GK), 2. Ria Percival, 3. Anna Green, 4. CJ Bott, 5. Meikayla Moore, 6. Rebekah Stott, 7. Ali Riley (c), 8. Emma Rolston, 9. Katie Rood, 10. Annalie Longo, 11. Sarah Gregorius, 12. Betsy Hassett, 13. Rosie White, 14. Katie Bowen, 15. Sarah Morton, 16. Liz Anton, 17. Stephanie Skilton, 18. Grace Jale, 19. Paige Satchell, 20. Malia Steinmetz, 21. Victoria Esson (GK), 22. Nadia Olla (GK)
Coach Tom Sermanni

Article added: Wednesday 28 November 2018