OlyWhites & Football Ferns at the 2024 Paris Olympics: Double Defeat vs France
Technically speaking, the OlyWhites walked onto the pitch for their match against France with the chance to earn a spot in the knockouts. Victory against the hosts would do the trick. But that never felt like a realistic possibility, especially not after how they were dismantled against the USA in their previous outing. Truth be told, the NZers never got close to threatening the win they needed to advance... although they were a whole lot better than they had been against America.
As predicted, Darren Bazeley switched it to a back five against the hosts. Tyler Bindon joined Michael Boxall and Finn Surman in the middle of defence with Lukas Kelly-Heald at left-wingback and Sam Sutton switching over to right wing-back. Same midfield trio as usual... but Ben Waine was partnered by Oskar van Hattum this time. French coach Thierry Henry made nine changes to his eleven with progression already sorted after a couple of wins. Another toasty afternoon kickoff.
The atmosphere was awesome with the locals turning out to see their team in action, as they would again one day later when the Footy Ferns faced France themselves. That atmosphere has helped plenty of French athletes during these Games but the male footballers... not so much. They’ve simply plodded their way through the tournament without really exciting anyone. This goes back to that idea from the previous yarn about how tough it is to whip a team into tactical shape at international level with so few training sessions to work with. We’ve suffered from that. France have suffered from that too.
The difference is that they still have speedy, skilled footballers to fall back upon... although the OlyWhites handled them well as the match got going. Easily the most assured they’ve looked at the back with that third CB making a huge difference in shutting down the channels. Not coincidentally, this was the finest performance that Tyler Bindon served up as he finally got to settle into his favoured position. He was excellent. Strong yet composed. Reads the game so well (he literally plays for a team called Reading so that makes sense). Fantastic in his ground challenges and pretty good in the air too.
Sadly, he couldn’t stop France breaking through after 19 minutes. In fact, he kinda set the goal up. Joe Bell hacked the ball towards his own goal and it bounced off Bindon towards an unmarked Jean-Philippe Mateta who then (deliberately or not) produced a magical finish into the top corner to evade both Bindon and Surman who were trying to cover on the line. Alex Paulsen was a shade slow getting out to the loose ball. It was a freaky goal. It was also the result of some hesitant defending in a few places.
But unlike the USA game, the floodgates did not open after the kiwis conceded. This time they retained their heads (in the nation that invented the guillotine) and kept it at 1-0 for a long time, even having a few promising spells of their own along the way. The best of those came when Waine had a shot deflected wide for a corner which led to Sarpreet Singh drawing a sharp block with an effort that was travelling towards the bottom corner before Boxall had a shot deflected wide for a corner kick and then Boxy headed over from that very same set piece. All four shots within a short span. There weren’t many of those spans but they did exist, burrowed away like rodents and only showing their faces when nobody was looking.
On another day we might have caught them off-guard like that. This wasn’t that day. Lachlan Bayliss replaced OVH at the break, meanwhile USA had taken the lead against Guinea on the way to 3-0 victory that would eliminate the OlyWhites no matter what happened. France eventually scored two more quick ones through Desire Doue (71’) and Arnaud Kalimuendo (74’) to win 3-0 themselves. The first goal was another instance of NZ diverting the ball to an attacker with Surman’s sliding block the cause. Tidy finish by Doue all the same, patiently evading Bindon’s challenge. Then Surman coughed the ball up near halfway and was caught out of position as France punished the shapeless NZers for the error. Surman managed to block Doue’s initial effort but the ball, once more, conveniently bobbled to the feel of Kalimuendo whose well-taken shot beat Paulsen at the near post.
It had been stuck at 1-0 for more than fifty minutes of footy, keeping the OlyWhites within touching distance for a surprising amount of time. Alas, once those two went in the game was all sorted. At least that did allow Fin Conchie to get a few minutes off the bench for his Olympic debut. Liam Gillion popped up for a couple of minutes and again showed the ability to beat a defender at the byline. Both those two blokes could find themselves with way bigger reputations in a year’s time after the next A-League season. But yeah 3-0 to France. It was three goals scored and eight conceded by Baze’s Boys overall. One win and two defeats. Make what you will of that.
There’s a lesson to be learned from the wider kiwi Olympic campaign about measured expectations. Some of our athletes turn up to challenge to medals but others just turn up to turn up. They’re there to compete, to culminate a dream, to call themselves Olympians. Football can be a funny sport but this Olympic campaign was pretty predictable. The win against Guinea was superb in how the Aotearoa side, without even playing to their capacity, were able to hack away at the dense forest and find a path to victory. The grit and determination. The magical moments. The next game got ugly and in these major tournaments you just cannot afford an off day like that. But the reaction was good against France. Blend that all together and it sorta feels like a neutral outcome.
Alex Paulsen looked great in all three games. Not sure if he’s going to hang around with Bournemouth in year one but he certainly did his chances no harm in Paris. More likely he’ll be sent out on loan where he can play much more regularly... in which case he can keep on doing this kinda stuff. He’s fast becoming one of NZ’s top players. Not there yet but let’s see where we’re at in a year. It’s a commonly articulated idea these days but the quality of goalkeeping depth in this country is getting to be quite spectacular.
Gotta wonder what might have unfolded with Chris Wood’s hold-up play and target man presence. Gotta wonder what Liberato Cacace’s bursting runs up the left might have achieved for a team that struggled to progress the ball in the USA and France games (Sam Sutton did a fine Libby impersonation in the Guinea fixture). Gotta wonder how the midfield might have functioned with Marko Stamenic and Matt Dibley-Dias there instead, both of them excellent at initiating possessions and moving the ball around with bright tempo. Stamenic’s long passing too. Or Ben Old as a dribbler who specialises in hauling the ball from the middle third into the attacking third. Oh what might have been. Then again, perhaps those guys would have made no difference at all. We’ll never know.
It’s not like we lacked midfielders who can dribble. Sarpreet Singh, Lachie Bayliss, and especially Matt Garbett all bring that to the table. Having midfielders who can dribble is a wonderful thing. However, having midfielders who keep losing the ball by dribbling too much, admittedly often because they’ve got no options to pass to, is not a wonderful thing.
Gianni Stensness represented Aotearoa at the last Olympics but then later switched back to play for Australia instead. Lachlan Bayliss is that guy from this group so Bazeley could do far worse than picking him for the World Cup qualifiers later in the year – competitive FIFA fixtures that’d lock him in for NZ. Bayliss almost chipped the French keeper from like 40 metres out late on. He set up the winner against Guinea. Love his work-rate out there. LB’s last ALM season was interrupted due to injury but there were some shining signs in there and he should be poised for a much bigger influence with Newcastle Jets next time around. Very intrigued by him as a footballer.
There were also quite a few Wellington Phoenix players in this squad who should see career advancements over the coming twelve months. Lukas Kelly-Heald and Sam Sutton are established starters (granted, often competing for the same position) so they’re settled. But Oskar van Hattum, Fin Conchie, Isaac Hughes, and Matt Sheridan should all find themselves with bigger roles next time. Let us not overlook Jesse Randall and Liam Gillion at Auckland FC either, as the expansion side boosts our professional playing numbers even further.
Meanwhile, Joe Bell’s returning to Viking FK to try and win a Norwegian championship (or, more likely, qualify for Europe). Alex Paulsen and Finn Surman have got new clubs to join up with after lucrative transfers. Michael Boxall will resume captaining Minnesota United. Matt Garbett’s got an Eredivisie quest after promotion with NAC Breda. Ben Waine will soon meet his new Plymouth coach Wayne Rooney. Tyler Bindon gets to be one of the finest youngsters in League One again, no doubt with transfer rumours swirling. Sarpreet Singh is due a new gig – could that also be in League One linking up with Des Buckingham? Jay Herdman is on the hunt for a second MLS appearance with Vancouver Whitecaps. Kees Sims awaits his next opportunity with GAIS in the Swedish top flight. Not to mention the absent Ben Old who just assisted a goal for Saint-Etienné in a preseason friendly. The Olympics were good fun. There were some positive things and there were some negative things. The rise of Aotearoa Football continues irrespectively.
It was three defeats from three for the Football Ferns in Paris, with a 2-1 loss against hosts France closing the door on their Olympic quest for another cycle. But it was a good 2-1 loss. As with all three of these games, the quality wasn’t there against a trio of world class opponents but at no stage was the effort or application or tactical cohesion found wanting. That may have been the case with the OlyWhites, for understandable reasons, but not with the Fernies even though it could easily have been. They’re an established senior team but they had an interim coach and a number of young players. Their captain succumbed to injury prior to the first game. They notoriously struggle to score goals against higher-ranked teams. Regardless, we saw a locked-in Ferns squad throughout the tournament and while that wasn’t reflected in wins or draws, it still shone through in that the results were all narrow outcomes.
Michael Mayne, the Mayne Man, made three changes to his eleven for the France game including the same two that he made at half-time of the Colombia game: Grace Jale and Annalie Longo coming into the eleven for Milly Clegg and Malia Steinmetz. No doubt looking for someone to hold the ball up better at the top and a little more ball-retention in the middle. Slight surprise that Steinmetz made way instead of Taylor, who is less established in that position, though that decision was soon vindicated in spectacular fashion. As for Clegg, she’s 18 years old and has hardly played this year. She’s the future. But she’s not yet ready to be running the show against defenders this good and that’s been clear in how she’s been squeezed out of games by bigger, stronger, faster defenders than she’s ever come up against before. Great experience though. She’d be subbed on early in the second half so she still got good minutes. Michaela Foster also stepped into left-back in place of Mackenzie Barry as the third change.
To be honest, the changes didn’t really do anything. Jale had some nice touches – and actually her through balls are blossoming into a bit of a trademark – but not a lot of touches. Longo worked hard... but we had 29% of possession in this game so yeah that about sums it up. It was neither of their faults, that’s simply how it goes against a team ranked second on the planet. However, the alterations do once again show that Mayne is willing to make proactive tactical decisions. He won’t die wondering. He’ll have a crack.
But France were brutal. Like Colombia, they had pace to burn out wide and were willing to use it. CJ Bott had another borderline-psychotic evening trying to cope with Sandy Baltimore, while Foster had to deal with Delphine Cascarino on the other side. Foster’s pace is her achilles heel but she did alright in that task, helped by the fact that France preferred to attack down CJB’s side for some reason (maybe their drone was at the shop for repairs so they didn’t get the scouting report). Again, it was surreal watching Bott getting dribbled past. That hardly ever happens. This coming straight after CJB’s duel with Linda Caicedo last time... jeepers. At least she’ll be match-fit for Leicester City’s preseason activities.
When France scored the opening goal it arrived from a cross down her side with Baltimore shaping her up with a flurry of fakes and feints before whipping a ball over for Marie-Antoinette Katoto who headed home, Leat almost-but-not-quite scrambling it off the line. Because of the scrambling transition situation, it was Foster instead of Bowen or Stott who was marking Katoto in the middle. That goal arrived after 21 minutes of otherwise sturdy Ferns defence. What was especially annoying about it was that the kiwis had just been on the attack. Jacqui Hand had a crossing opportunity and she couldn’t lift it over the first defender. France then broke away up their left wing. When Baltimore got in position to deliver, she chipped a sweet ball onto the head of Katoto to score. The contrast was a bit of a slap in the face.
This was pretty cool though...
Mackenzie Barry and Kate Taylor scoring worldies in the same tournament, aye? Two players who got their big breaks from the Wellington Phoenix (one from New Plymouth, one from Canterbury). The World Cup came a tad too soon for the Welly Nix’s influence to flow into the national team but one year later it seems we’ve reached that bountiful return. It looked like the keeper was expecting a cross from that angle, especially with the way Taylor’s body was facing. Pretty sure most of us fans were thinking the same thing. This was KT’s second international goal following on from her contribution towards a 6-0 win against Samoa back in February. Taylor of course just signed with Dijon FCO so she scored against France in France after signing in France. Merci beaucoup.
That goal suddenly made things funky as, for the second time these Olympics, the Football Ferns took a 1-1 scoreline into half-time. It had been the same against Canada too, albeit in very different circumstances (NZ was the team to concede just before the break on that occasion). Problem was, we conceded within five minutes of the second half getting underway to put us back where we’d been. Again it was pace down the left, with Sakina Karchaoui getting on the ball via an underlapping run and then squaring low for Katoto to tap home. A rare instance when the centre-backs couldn’t get their defensive position.
The last forty minutes of this game got slippery. Both teams made substitutions. France hit the woodwork a couple of times. Yet New Zealand also had some good moments too, Taylor going closest with a header after a corner kick was sent backwards up the right sideline for Michaela Foster to curl a deep inswinging delivery. With only a goal in it, the hosts felt nervous enough to take the ball into the corner during stoppage time – a sign of respect for the Football Ferns, in a way. France still won but the Fernies made them work for it by continuing to try and play football. By remaining structured without being negative. By working hard for each other and for their coach. They just weren’t as good as their opponents, that’s all. No shame in that. If they can recapture this level of cohesion consistently, as their young forwards continue to develop, then we’re moving in the right direction.
Would things have been any different with Jitka Klimkova? The passion and intensity that we saw in France could be attributed to Mayne’s influence, though it could simply be the big tournament factor. Klimkova did get a similar tune out of them at times too, most notably against Norway at the World Cup. Whether Michael Mayne’s taking that to a new level or not is something we’ll have a better idea of if/when we see him coaching a two-game friendly series against South Korea or Scotland or Mexico or whoever... but we can say that it wasn’t any worse for Klimkova’s absence, in which case you’ve got two coaches on relatively even footing and one of them has lost the dressing room while the other has not. That fact ought to mean the end of Klimkova’s reign... though with NZF it probably won’t be. It’s also kinda cool to hear a kiwi accent belting out instructions from the technical area. No shade on the various other national team coaches across the age grades but there’s not enough of that. With Mayne, it feels like he’s invested as a kiwi and not just as a coach.
Seven players started all three games: Anna Leat, CJ Bott, Katie Bowen, Rebekah Stott, Kate Taylor, Indi Riley, and Katie Kitching. The three defenders there were all similarly influential at the World Cup, as was Indi Riley (that WC was her breakthrough as a Ferns player)... but in those twelve months, Leat has surpassed Vic Esson in goal while Taylor has gone from reserve defender to starting midfielder. Katie Kitching wasn’t even on the radar a year ago. Chuck in Milly Clegg and Mack Barry getting starts too. The Ferns have been refreshing things for several years and the process continues.
Remember we only saw glimpses of Macey Fraser as well (who’d otherwise have done the Longo role as progressive midfielder, only with more directness). Fraser and Clegg overlapped for seven minutes against Canada – the first seven minutes that pair have shared within the Football Ferns. That’s still something to look forward to. There are three weeks until Utah’s next NWSL game so fingers-crossed Macey Fraser is okay by then. Fraser swapped jerseys with new Utah teammate Amandine Henry after the game, which is pretty cool.
There’s so much to love about how the likes of Indi Riley, Katie Kitching, and Jacqui Hand battle away... yet it’s hard to remember any of them having many notable attacking moments this tournament. Can’t be too harsh given the scenario... though it does highlight the need for them to keep on developing. Grace Jale was a little more effective in the front third but it’s still the case that our two goals were scored by a left-back and a defensive midfielder. Hand is a free agent so her next gig could be crucial. Same deal with Jale. Kitching gets to take this experience back with her to Sunderland and try get promoted. As for Indi Riley... well, it’s being reported that she’s on the verge of a transfer fee move to Crystal Palace in the English WSL. Huge areas. Exactly what we want to see.
By the way, the Footy Ferns have scored in four of their past five fixtures. Oceania opposition aside, that’s the first time they’ve done so since the last Olympics, coincidentally, although those five games saw them score four and concede 17, whereas these four have seen them score four and concede 11. To find a streak of five games in a row we’ve got to go way back to early 2015.
Annalie Longo scored a couple times during that 2015 streak... was this the last we’ll see of her in a Ferns jersey? She teared up when Sky Sports asked her to reflect on her career afterwards so that feels like a clue. Will Ali Riley return for a swansong or is that it for her international career as well? Not to mention Liv Chance and Betsy Hassett making their comebacks after becoming mothers. Hannah Wilkinson is young enough to give it another nudge though she will have to earn her way back on club form like Meikayla Moore did. Both Wilkinson and Moore are current free agents. Chance will probably play for one of the Melbourne teams in the A-League next season. Look, a lot of folks have been crying out for a generational change in this Ferns squad without noticing that it’s been happening already. Slowly, steadily, organically. But we also don’t want all the experienced players to disappear at once, we want that overlap so they can help prime their own replacements. Thank the spirits for Katie Bowen and Rebekah Stott, at least. Bowen has moved up to ninth all-time with 113 Ferns caps, while Stotty is eleventh on 106. Longo is fifth with 136. Also, shout out to CJ Bott who earned her 50th in the defeat against France.
Curious to hear both Michael Mayne and Kate Taylor use the word “underperformed” regarding their team’s performance, while Katie Bowen was similarly disappointed. Seems more like they actually performed slightly above expectations... but that’s the difference between watching from afar versus being in the group with ambitions to be better. The Ferns also talked up their expectations of making the knockouts at the World Cup which ultimately helped undermine the unprecedented stuff they did achieve at that tournament. Grain of salt. On that note, every team we faced at the Olympics is better than every team we faced during the World Cup.
There was a sneaky development in Anna Leat’s career on the same day as this match. She probably already knew about this long before but Aston Villa confirmed the sale of Daphne Van Domselaar to Arsenal, whilst signing Arsenal’s former back-up keeper Sabrina D’Angelo to replace her. The fact that Leat re-signed with AVFC (after having been reported to be nearing an exit) hopefully suggests that she’s got first dibs on the number one jersey but we’ll see how it goes. If she loses out to a 31yo Canadian after the week we’ve just had then New Zealanders will not be very chuffed. The sporting director at the Villans did say that D’Angelo is: “an experienced goalkeeper that will help drive standards and create great competition within the goalkeeping unit”... which kinda sounds like what you’d say about a back-up.
Leat had an excellent tournament in Paris, by the way. Could maybe have done more with France’s first goal (shades of Esson vs Philippines) but otherwise made a heap of saves – the tied-most of any keeper in the group stages alongside Zambia’s Ngambo Musole... who conceded more and also scored an own goal. Leat looked flawless plucking the ball out of the air, was confident with her feet, and has generally evolved into an elite goalkeeper. Anna Leat. An Elite. You see the vision.
Katie Bowen was NZ’s best at the World Cup a year ago and, with the captain’s armband, might well have been the best at the Olympics as well. If not her then Kate Taylor, Rebekah Stott, and Anna Leat would be right in contention.
And... that’ll do for now. A bunch of these players have got to go find new clubs now, the rest have got clubs to return with a bunch of them nearing preseason. NZ Football have got to figure out the coaching situation. Not sure if there are any fixtures on the horizon but they should be in action later in the year, with the focus now shifting fully towards the 2027 World Cup. Onwards we ride.
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