Football Ferns vs Korea Republic: Game Rua, The Sweet Nectar Of Victory
It had been a while. 15 games without a win for the national women’s football team of Aotearoa, a streak stretching all the way back to 1 June 2019 and which encompassed two major tournaments. 14 of those 15 games had been defeats, the Ferns scoring only seven goals in that time and conceding 34. There were some unlucky defeats and some hidings. There were some decent performances and some bad ones. All of it added up to two and a half years without a win.
But that streak has been banished to the history books thanks to a 2-0 win over Korea Republic. Paige Satchell and Gabi Rennie on the scoresheet (a second international goal for each), both goals arriving late in the match as the Jitka Klimková era got its first major statement result. A two-goal win away from home against a strong Korea team. Getting it done without several unavailable key players – one or two of whom may now have some work to do to earn back their starting places. And this just a couple of days before the Wellington Phoenix play their first ever A-League Women game? Tu meke.
Klimková didn’t need a win as she seeks to implement a pretty drastic change in playing style in what’s only her second tour as coach... but it sure helps. Getting a big result like this invigorates everyone. It instils belief in what they’re building. It reinforces the progress that they’ve made under Klimková so far. It spreads the good vibes. Especially to do so in the manner that they did with a pair of late goals in quick succession. Plus, like, aside from all the longer term thinking... any time you represent your country (or even just watch your national team on telly) you want to win. Winning is fun. This win was fun.
Funny thing about it was that the first half was kinda terrible. South Korea picked up where they left off in game one and came out seeking to batter the Ferns with their movement and intensity. That new pressing strategy of the Ferns, it may have gotten a hefty highlight in the last write-up however the thing about high pressing is that you have to get high in order to do it... so to speak. When the whole game is being played in your own half that ain’t the case. The press was a non-factor. The Ferns were trapped. It was not looking flash.
Jitka Klimková only made two changes from game one so you know she was at least a little frisky about trying to get a result. One of those changes was debutant Ashleigh Ward coming in for an injury Ali Riley (140 caps replaced by 0 caps) and the other was an expected one at goalkeeper... although it wasn’t Erin Nayler who came in but Victoria Esson.
Vic Esson has well and truly established herself as third choice thanks to her form for club side Avaldsnes where her saves were crucial in them avoiding relegation in 2021. But games are rare for a third-stringer. This was only Esson’s fourth cap despite having been in every single squad going back to the start of Tom Sermanni’s tenure (and a few before that too). Esson doesn’t have the well-rounded abilities of Nayler and especially Leat. Not as good with the ball at feet, not as technically proficient perhaps. But she keeps the ball out of the net. A fantastic shot-stopper as she’s proved in Norway and with JK clearly trying to have a looksee at a wide range of players across these first couple tours it made sense to check out the third keeper in action. Good timing for Esson as well because Lily Alfeld’s just been made captain of the Welly Nix so there’s a bit of competition there.
The first proper save that Esson made was a decent one diving low on 11’ but she spilled the ball and that should probably have cost the Ferns a goal. Did well to recover and smother the rebound shot but then Choo Hyo-joo, whose initial shot began the move, somehow blasted over from a great position. That first save was good but she didn’t complete the task and the Ferns were bloody lucky not to be behind. However Esson’s top notch shot stopping came into sharp focus from there on. There was a super save a couple mins later off a Yeo Min-ji header. Another decent one off Choo. Chelsea star Ji So-yun also hit the post in amongst all that with Esson managing to acrobatically push away the follow-up header from Choe Yu-ri before Daisy Cleverley make a goal-line block in the same move.
It’s tough in that situation. Korea were swarming, they’re a team that plays with a fluid shape and that was a regular worry for the Aotearoa selection as players like Ji would drop into pockets between the lines and gather up the ball unmarked. Gotta say it was a massive improvement from Korea who were bringing some great off-ball movement to the party and linking up well in midfield.
Plus the Ferns are still getting used to this 4-3-3 formation. If the wingers are being dragged back to keep the fullbacks from getting doubled up then there’s really only one striker up front to aim for and even if you do ping a perfect pass in their direction they’ve got nowhere to go. Had they been sharper with some of their passing then they may have been able to play through it but that’s still a work in progress. The Ferns probably weren’t winning enough 50/50 ball in that part of the pitch either. Pressure came on in waves. A scrambling clearance then back it was into defensive shape again.
Hence why Jacqui Hand was subbed off with ten to play in the first half. Hand had lost possession a few too many times in a game where the Ferns needed to hold onto the ball better. Add in that Satchell has that extra pace on the counter and it was a fair call from Klimková. She had to tweak something to stop the onslaught.
And guess what? It worked. The Ferns were able to survive through ‘til the half and then came out on the front foot and were able to get Korea playing out of their own half a little. Which in turn brought the press back into the mix. Which in turn made it harder for Korea to get out of their own half and suddenly the Ferns were back in the territory arm-wrestle. It was the inverse of how the game started. Daisy Cleverley had a shot over the top. Hassett sent one top corner that was brilliantly tipped away by the Korean keeper. Corner kicks were looking dangerous. Katie Bowen swung in a lovely cross that nobody got on the end of. Granted South Korea did go down and hit the post again... but that came after a CJ Bott airswing clearance so it was self-inflicted.
Korea Republic did at least steady things after that spell but they weren’t dominating like they had done earlier, leaving the game there for the taking for whichever team could find that one game-breaking moment. Put frankly, there was no way the Ferns should have still been in it at that point but a combination of good luck, bad finishing from Korea, and some dogged defence had done the trick despite everything. Not only that but having dug through those periods the Ferns grew in confidence. Now they were playing the game they planned to play. Ria Percival shooting out to instigate the press. Moore and Bowen dishing the ball around the wheel at the back with composure. Liv Chance pulling some strings.
Gabi Rennie came on for Ava Collins with twenty to go, Collins getting a well-earned rest after a whole lot of running. Rennie then picking up where she left off. Collins has been a curious starter in the last three games as someone who probably wouldn’t have made the first squad had everyone been available but you can see why Klimková likes her. Tireless hustle. At 19 years of age, playing college soccer, she’s not yet the polished player she’ll eventually become but clearly she’s done a job for the boss.
Then Paige Satchell scored a goal. Running onto a clever lifted feed from Liv Chance and blasting that sucker home. That got the nerves perked up as suddenly the Ferns had something to defend but before things could get worrisome they scored again. Gabi Rennie bundling it in. The cross from Liv Chance (whose run had instigated the move) was so good that Rennie had time to misjudge the bounce of the ball and still sneak it over the line before the keeper could stop her. A game in which it looked like they were fortunate not to be three down at the half and they ended up winning it 2-0. The winless streak is over!
Next streak up? You’ve gotta go back to 2013 and wins over Brazil (1-0) and China (4-0) for the last time that the Ferns won two games in a row against non-OFC opposition. But that’ll have to wait until next year.
The fact that the Ferns were as outplayed in that first half as they were sorta makes this win even better. They didn’t have to be at their best to get the dub. They battled through the tough stuff and didn’t break, then changed the course of the game and eventually broke Korea down. There are very obvious areas where they need to improve and yet they bagged a 2-0 win against a favoured opposition away from home. That’s where you wanna be.
For the first time in... maybe ever... it feels like the Football Ferns are set up to get the best out of their own players. Nobody’s having to play within themselves for the team’s sake. The fullbacks cam bomb forward. Ria Percival can press like a madwoman. The forwards are trying things. Defenders are looking to build up possession from the back.
Now for some stray thoughts on a few individuals:
This was by far the best game that Paige Satchell has played for the Football Ferns. Her blinding pace has always been the key factor for her but the task has been to lift up the rest of her game to complement that speed. Tom Sermanni liked to use her as an x-factor off the bench but really there wasn’t a lot of end product to what she did – she could beat a defender to a ball in behind but then what? However her season with Canberra United a year ago was massive, the first time she’d gotten regular professional footy and she clearly grew so much. A move to Sydney FC for the upcoming season should continue that growth.
In this game, it was Satchell’s physicality that stood out the most. The way she pressed and hustled and hounded, then the way she was able to hold her ground in possession. She brought a real energy and was able to do the things that Jacqui Hand hadn’t been able to do in the first 35 mins. Oh and then that finish... yeah mate. That finish was class, managing to keep the ball under the crossbar yet still strike with power despite being off-balance. Earlier Ferns appearances were often based on potential. This appearance showed that it’s all about merit now.
Captain Ria Percival. Nothing new to say. She’s a crucial player for the Fernies with her midfield workrate who breaks things up in defence and moves things along in attack. Orchestrates the press too. People don’t even seem to realise what a high level she plays at – Percy just got shortlisted for WSL Player of the Month for November. Also you don’t get to 150+ caps by accident and Percival has featured in each of the last 27 Football Ferns internationals, starting in all but one of them. Needless to say that’s the longest active appearance streak in the squad. Ali Riley was at 24 until she missed this one. Katie Bowen is at 20 in a row.
In case you didn’t already realise, Olivia Chance is the Ferns’ most important attacking player and she has been since the 2019 World Cup. She’s got a wonderful shot off her left foot, can strike a mean set piece, and her creative passing is on another level to anyone else in the squad. Just look at her two assists, a couple of deceptively tricky passes because they required such control. Too much sauce or too little sauce and there’s nothing comes of either. Just enough sauce and the Ferns win 2-0.
Chance has tended to be more of a central midfielder for her club teams (Celtic, Brisbane, Bristol City in particular) but for the Ferns she’s used in that front three and this is why. There are others who can do a similar job to what she’d do in midfield but nobody who can offer what she does to the front three. Chance is crucial as someone who can create for others, linking it all together. Plus she’s got a ripping shot off that left boot so the closer she is to the goal, the better as far as the Football Ferns go. She’d improve the midfield trio. But not as much as she improves the forward line.
Speaking of midfielders, Daisy Cleverley is coming on so well in 2021. She was picking off passes left right and centre. Some sloppy distribution of her own in there tbf but she’s generally pretty strong in that area... gonna be fascinating to see what she gets up to next. Her college season finished when Georgetown were beaten in extra time by Santa Clara in the second round of the national tournament recently. This was Cleverley’s fifth year of American uni footy and she was playing as a graduate student. The NWSL Draft is taking place in a couple weeks. Just sayin’. (Jacqui Hand should also be in that convo... we’ll see how it goes. To date Katie Bowen is the only kiwi to be drafted into the NWSL).
Tell you what, Ashleigh Ward looked bloody good. Obviously she wasn’t gonna be Ali Riley 2.0 but for someone playing in the fourth tier of England these days she did not look out of place whatsoever on debut. Not very tall but clearly a fantastic athlete, with quick feet and a silky touch which helps so much in a position where you’ve constantly gotta play out of tight spaces. With all due respect to Actonians LFC, who Ward captains... we gotta get her a transfer up the divisions somehow.
Meikayla Moore’s short passing has been such an underrated aspect of the JK era so far. Hints of this at the Olympics too, in fairness. She’s increasingly confident with the ball at her feet and her first instinct is now to look for a teammate rather than to hoof the ball to safety as so many kiwi defenders before her, male and female, have tended to do. It’s a mindset shift as much as anything else. Seeing a defender play that way is probably the best indication of how Klimkova’s reign is shifting the landscape. She already had a fantastic long ball in her arsenal. Now she’s getting the short stuff sizzling too. Moore was excellent in this game. Commanding and decisive and physically imposing. She’s fast becoming a complete centre-back.
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