Football Ferns at the 2024 Paris Olympics: DroneGate vs Canada
A week ago, this game wasn’t a particularly enthralling proposition. The Football Ferns were served with a brutal Olympics group and part of that parcel was facing the defending champs first up – a team that our previous four meetings with had provided four defeats with an 11-1 aggregate scoreline. But then the Canadians imploded. Scandal. Controversy. Espionage. A nation forced to look itself in the mirror and ask: is this what we’ve become? The Football Ferns weren’t going to rattle the Canadians but somehow they managed to rattle themselves instead.
More on the drones later, let’s do the actual football first. Because Canada were perhaps more vulnerable than their defending champs status suggested. Since winning the 2021 Olympics, they’ve not exactly taken their prize and run with it. Injuries and retirements have been a factor but also ongoing issues with the governing body (including a player strike in early 2023) have also dragged them down. They were beaten by the USA in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final in 2022 and semi-final in 2024 and worst of all they disappointed at the World Cup, losing 4-0 to Australia in their third match to confirm a group stage exit. They’ve still won a lot of games during that time span... but the point is that, despite signing a new contract in January, Bev Priestman was already under pressure even before the unidentified spying objects.
Priestman was not on the sidelines for the game against New Zealand after voluntarily suspending herself over the drones... something the two teams had in common because Jitka Klimkova also voluntarily (sort of) withdrew from coaching the team at these Olympics after her own recent dramas. Andy Spence took the reins for Canada, he’s an Englishman who used to manage Everton (he was in charge there when they signed Olivia Chance). We already know about Michael Mayne with NZ. Neither team’s actual coach was in attendance. Strange coincidence.
The Ferns have already had three games under Mayne’s tutelage, a couple of losses to Japan followed by a solid 1-1 draw versus Zambia, in which their lack of creativity was still an issue (there’s no quick fix for that) but their motivation and energy seemed to hit the maximum. The same motivation and energy was clear to begin this match too. That’s not necessarily an anti-Jitka idea because she got a similar tune out of this squad at the World Cup, though after all the chat of her having lost the dressing room it does at least seem a little bit significant. But thankfully this game wasn’t really about the Fernies at all. They could sit back and chill in the shadows of global attention thanks to the baffling cheating attempts of their opponents. We’ve got dramas of our own but it was Canada who hogged the drama spotlight. And if they were already rattled before, then they were even more rattled after Mackenzie Barry did this...
Didn’t catch that on the drone footage, obviously. A bit of set piece cleverness with Katie Kitching firing low towards the penalty spot and Mack Barry whipping out such a spectacular spinning finish that it took a few replays to determine who actually scored (at first I wrote Milly Clegg’s name down in my notes – ready to praise her magical shooting abilities only to realise it was a defender who’d scored). For the record, Mack Barry has zero goals for the Wellington Phoenix in 50 appearances. She’s only had one shot on target in all of those games. What’s more, nobody even expected her to be starting – Ali Riley succumbed to her ongoing injury issues and was ruled out a few days before the tourney began. Ally Green and Michaela Foster have tended to take the other LB opportunities whenever the captain’s been unavailable (which has been quite often lately)... whereas Barry has never started at left-back for the national team. All five of her previous starts were as a right-back (three of those were in Oceania Olympic qualifying) and she usually played centre-back for the Welly Nix.
In short, it was an inspired bit of selection from Michael Mayne. The rest of the line-up was mostly as expected with Anna Leat in goal, Katie Bowen and Rebekah Stott in central defence, and CJ Bott on the right. Slight surprise to see Kate Taylor partnering Malia Steinmetz in the midfield – Taylor fresh off signing with Dijon FCO in the French Première Ligue – though Macey Fraser’s ankle issue probably necessitated that. Out wide it was Indi Riley on the right and Katie Kitching on the left. Up front, Milly Clegg was joined by Grace Jale. Only the second time in the past 13 fixtures that Jacqui Hand has missed the starting eleven... though you could easily see the vision with Mayne seeking to amp up the physicality with the likes of Barry, Taylor, and Jale all included. That also left us with a bench containing some genuine impact players which is something we didn’t really possess at the World Cup.
Barry’s wondergoal bounced up into the net in the 13th minute of the game and was the first significant chance of the match. Up until then it’d been a fast-paced game (not really to our benefit) with Canada looking to use their pace out wide. But the kiwi defence was locked in and you don’t find too many tacklers more effective than CJ Bott and Mack Barry against dribbling wingers. Chuck in some brave blocks from the central defenders and Anna Leat looking smooth as silk against the aerials. Couple of slippery moments in possession but that’s par for the course with the Fernies... and they did gain more confidence with their passing as things progressed. The first forty minutes of this thing were about as good as we could reasonably hope for.
But they tired towards the end of the half. Canada amped things up and the NZers couldn’t get out of their own half. Nichelle Prince should have equalised with a big chance that she blazed over. Mayne caught the drift and temporarily moved Jale out to the wing and Kitching into the middle in order to finish the half in a 4-5-1 shape... but the sloppiness had already taken hold. In the final minute of stoppage time, Canada produced their finest bit of work with some rapid ball-movement around the area leading to Chloe Lacasse sweeping in at the back post. Katie Bowen was just a split-second late sliding across to intercept. That’s the difference when the ball’s pinging around that little bit faster. Conceding right on the brink of half-time... yeah that one stung.
Can’t say it happened out of the blue though. The Ferns had gotten too defensive with the break in sight, sitting deep and hoofing the ball away rather than trying to keep possession. It was back to the 4-4-2 to start the second half, however things didn’t improve. Canada kept bubbling away, even more so after they went to their bench on 56’ with a double attacking change (Jordyn Huitema and Jan Beckie introduced). It was around this time that Barry had to be replaced, the first of several Ferns to succumb to cramps in the French heat (most of them are in their club offseasons too). On came Mickey Foster, while Macey Fraser also replaced Steinmetz at the same time. Anna Leat made a magnificent save diving to tip a header from a free kick away from the bottom corner.
The Ferns just couldn’t relieve the pressure... but at least they kept hustling away in defence, with Stotty making interception after interception reading the play like a picture book, which kept them level at 1-1 with thirty minutes to go. Then with twenty minutes to go. Bowen went down with cramp. She was able to continue... but there seemed to be a few more Ferns getting bumped off the ball than there had been before. Finally, in the 79th minute, Canada got what they’d been searching for when an excellent run from Evelyne Viens met an excellent long pass into the channel from Jessie Fleming. Viens smacked a quick shot across Anna Leat before she could set her feet and it went in off the post. Three superb goals in this game... sadly only one of them was ours.
The last ten minutes did see Canada ease off, allowing the Ferns to balance out the overwhelming second-half possession stats a wee bit. Not too many chances to show for it. Kitching whiffed a free kick wide. Foster dug a shot out over the top. Gabi Rennie replaced a cramping Kate Taylor for the last five minutes but yeah nah it didn’t happen. Canada took the 2-1 victory and it was a pretty fair outcome on the basis of the match. New Zealand were very good in the first forty minutes but fatigued in the heat and withdrew a little too far into their shells in the second half. Got to be more positive with the ball than that. Those impactful subs never got a chance to do anything. Still, we did give the Canadians a scare for awhile there and that’s a lot more than most were predicting.
There was a scare of our own in stoppage time when Macey Fraser suffered a non-contact injury trying to step into a challenge. She’d leave the pitch in tears (NZ played the last two minutes with ten women, having used all their sub windows). The worst case scenario there would be an achilles tear which would not only end her tournament but it’d end her NWSL season as well. Worth noting that she has been dealing with an ankle injury, though it seems this was the other leg that was hurt. Coach Mayne has suggested that the ankle is the issue so fingers-crossed it’s not serious.
Speaking of injuries, it was a bummer about Ali Riley. A bummer... but not a surprise. This was to be her fifth Olympic Games and there’d been some cool stories (mostly from America thanks to NWSL media access) about her longevity and how hard she’s worked to be available for this one. But that hard work was due to a lingering injury that has largely prevented her from featuring for club side Angel City this year. Only five NWSL games totalling 260 minutes. Meanwhile she’s made two appearances for the Footy Ferns in 2024, one against Japan and one against Zambia, and was subbed off at half-time of both of them. Because of her leadership abilities, because of her experience, because of the fact that she’s still the best left-back we’ve got (even if the gap has closed significantly in recent years), she was given every possible chance to participate. But obviously she didn’t quite get there – and with such small squads, we can’t afford to be carrying injured players. Michaela Foster has therefore been elevated to the main roster while Grace Neville has been called up to take Foster’s spot amongst the alternates. To be honest, this was always a likely outcome.
Katie Bowen captained the side in Ali Riley’s absence. A fitting choice, she was NZ Football’s player of the year for 2023 after all, though it has tended to be Rebekah Stott who gets the armband whenever it’s up for grabs. Riley and Ria Percival shared captaincy duties at the World Cup. Percival’s now retired. Riley’s a sentimental individual so she’ll potentially try to play again, if only for the chance to say farewell... but that’s no guarantee at this stage (Mack Barry’s performance here might even help tip the scales). Percival retired with 166 caps, Riley is at 163 as it stands. Katie Bowen will probably surpass both of them within a few years (she’s at 111 at age 30 and playing the best footy of her career).
On a happier note, Milly Clegg is the youngest athlete in the entire NZ Olympic team (born 1 November 2005). Her presence also completes a pretty cool family arc after her mother (Kylie Foy/Clegg) was a two-time Olympian with the NZ hockey team... in fact she captained them at Sydney 2000.
Anna Leat was superb in this game, looking so composed and making a bunch of tidy saves. Little bit sketchy with the distribution at times but that’s because she has range. She doesn’t take the easy option every time. Really hope that Aston Villa give her a shot as the number one next season.
Also just gotta marvel at how many powerful ball-winners there were in this line-up, especially across the backline. We could do with more passers too but the tackling was certainly not an issue. They handled the speedy Canadian wingers pretty smoothly, all things considered. At times under Klimkova it’s felt like they’ve lost some of their grittiness as they (understandably) search for more creativity. But the Football Ferns are a better team when strength and power and courage are the foundation of their identity and we got that here.
In the other game of the group, France were 3-0 up against Colombia and seemed to be cruising until Colombia gave them a fright in the second half. It ended up 3-2 to France. We did get a draw against Colombia in December 2023 so that’s gotta be worth something as we face them next on Monday at 3am. One thing that’ll help in that game is Mayra Ramirez being suspended. She drew the ire of the VAR after stepping on the heel of a French opponent late in that match, the Chelsea striker seeing her yellow card upgraded to a red card. Pretty harsh considering it was clearly accidental... but you know the drill when the slow-mos come into the equation. Anyway, that’s her problem. The Fernies will face Colombia with the South Americans lacking one of their very best (granted, they’ve still got Linda Caicedo and Catalina Usme). Remember that, unlike in the men’s competition, the women’s football only has 12 teams and therefore two of the three best third-placed teams will advance. Knock on wood... a win against Colombia after a narrow loss to Canada would give the Fernies a real chance.
Alrighty then, it’s time for some Dronegate thoughts. The obvious one being that Canada had no need to spy on the Football Ferns. We haven’t beaten them since 1987, for crying out loud. For that reason, the initial suspicion was that maybe this was an accident based around filming one of those insider documentaries or something... but then they openly admitted to the espionage in their press statement. Not only that, they admitted to doing it twice and that seemed to catch even the kiwis off-guard (they’d only spotted one compromised session). And it’s only gotten crazier since then.
The revelation of the second drone emerged because the matter was referred to police. You see, flying drones over people in public is a crime in France (and much of Europe) for reasons to do with privacy and safety. It’s also been a big talking point during the Olympics with several tourists getting in trouble every day for trying to capture sneaky drone footage. What’s more, a few years ago the Canadian men’s team cut short a training session when a drone flew overhead. That was one of those abundance of caution ones, they never proved any wrongdoing and it may have simply been a local hobbyist, but it shows the wider organisation was... familiar with the concept, shall we say.
This is such a strange story because Herdman of course once coached the Football Ferns. And around that same time, current Canadian coach Bev Priestman was also involved with NZF – spending four years in the system and rising to the equivalent of a women’s technical development role. She’s even married to former Football Fern Emma Humphries. Preistman stood herself down for the NZ game, claiming responsibility for the whole staff as coach (though denying any conspiratorial knowledge). But only for the first game. There have been developments there but hold your horses.
Meanwhile, two staffers were sent home: Joseph Lombardi (the non-accredited member) and Jasmine Mander (an assistant coach). Lombardi was the one operating the dirty drone – apparently they caught him when he went to retrieve it. According to a statement from French Police (so many statements across this saga), the fuzz seized the offending drone from the pilot’s hotel room, along with other “electronic video analysis devices” (sounds like maybe they just pocketed his laptop), hence they also got access the footage which is how they knew there’d been multiple efforts. They basically got a full confession out of the bloke.
Lombardi was held in police custody for 48 hours before being slapped with an eight-month suspended jail sentence over this. We’re talking about a genuine criminal activity, not some grey area ‘sanctity of sport’ stuff. He’d been working as an analyst reporting to Mander, who was also questioned by police (though not charged with anything) due to text messages between the two.
As it happens, Mander’s older brother is Amar Mander... a physiotherapist with the Football Ferns. He worked with them a few times early in Klimkova’s tenure until they hired a full-timer in the role. But she’s on maternity leave so Mander was summoned back for the Olympics. This was going to be a wholesome family reunion in France... until Jasmine Mander got expelled.
Bloody hell. Unsurprisingly, this has got the Canadian public all in a spin, even the politicians are getting involved (from their high horses, no doubt). But wait there’s more. It hasn’t taken long for the Canadian journalism force to discover evidence of further tactical espionage that dates back at least three years, possibly longer. Canada Soccer were left with no choice but to properly suspend Bev Priestman, sending her home just like the others.
The more this story evolves, the more it goes from hilarious and petty to kinda dark and malicious. Note that all these expulsions have been the work of the Canadian authorities, not the IOC or FIFA who may well have their own punishments to contribute down the line. Jeepers. We may have lost the football match... but we did uncover a massive ongoing espionage scheme and surely that’s gotta be worth a spot in the quarter-finals, right?
The Niche Cache is fully independent and funded by the generous folks who chip in on our Patreon, Substack, or Buy Me A Coffee – get amongst the whanau if you reckon we’re worthy
Also helps to whack an ad, do the like/share/comment stuff, and tell your mates about us
Keep cool but care