The next steps on the Football Ferns’ build-up towards to the Tokyo Olympics will take place in Portugal in March of next year after confirmation that New Zealand will take part in the Algarve Cup.

The tournament features seven other nations and there are some footballing giants among them with Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal and Sweden all set to feature.

Football Ferns coach Tom Sermanni will not find out which of those teams his side will come up against directly until the official draw is conducted on 7 January but is expecting a tough challenge regardless.

That’s exactly what he wants with Tokyo 2020 now looming large on the horizon.

“When you look at the teams involved in the Algarve Cup, it’s going to be a strong competition,” he says.

“Every game at the Olympics is going to be exceptionally tough and the Algarve Cup will be the same. This is another step in our preparation for the Olympics and the important thing for us is to continue to figure out ways in which we can get results going forward. We need to find ways to do better in certain moments of games which are ending up being pivotal in the outcomes.”

The Ferns did not manage to claim a victory in either of their most recent outings at an invitational tournament in China earlier this month, falling 2-0 to the hosts before being defeated 3-0 by Canada.

But Sermanni was able to hand game time to several uncapped players with Claudia Bunge, Nicole Stratford and Jana Radosavljevic all making their debuts while Hannah Blake made just her second appearance.

Creating competition for places is a key part of Sermanni’s plan moving forward but he is also wary of the need to start finalising his approach for the Olympics.

“There’s now very little time to prepare for the Olympics so it’s a balancing act. We need to find that balance between seeing if players are going to be competitive enough to come into the squad and making sure we get the best possible preparation for the Olympics,” he says.

“The more international games we get, the more time we can play together and that will have many benefits for the team leading into Tokyo.”

New Zealand has competed in the Algarve Cup on one previous occasion in 2016, opening with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Brazil before drawing nil-all with Russia and beating Portugal 1-0. 

The Football Ferns then went into a play-off game against Iceland, which they lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Tournament Details

Algarve Cup
2 – 11 March, 2020
Algarve, Portugal
Teams: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden
Draw conducted on 7 January, 2020

Article added: Thursday 28 November 2019