Football Ferns vs Costa Rica: A New Cycle Begins
After going seven months without any fixtures following the Paris Olympics, a two-match tour of Costa Rica felt very much like the start of a fresh chapter for the Football Ferns. Even more so when interim coach Michael Mayne dropped/rested a few key players with the stated intention of instead bringing in a few youngsters at this opportunistic moment.
Mayne’s presence as interim felt like a new thing too, even though he’d already had two tours in change while Jitka Klimkova was on gardening leave. Those previous tours, including the Olympics, felt like a continuation of what they were already doing (some good stuff, some less so) whereas this one allowed Mayne to bring in his own whole new coaching staff and change the dominant formation. Nothing too drastic but more than enough for him to put his stamp on things. Which, by the way, feels like quite a huge amount of licence being given to a temporary coach. S’pose we’ll find out what’s happening with that soon enough but it certainly seems like Mayne is operating like a bloke who expects to stay in this role long term.
As far as those opportunities for new players went, Mayne managed to find debuts for four new players. Maya Hahn featured off the bench in both matches – including scoring the winner in the second of them. Kelli Brown started the first game and was a sub in the second. Manaia Elliott got a cameo off the bench in game one and Emma Pijnenburg did the same in game two. Geo Candy, the third-choice goalie, was the only uncapped player who didn’t get on the pitch... it’s always different for the keepers.
Otherwise, the fresh players angle is kinda redundant because the likes of Macey Fraser, Kate Taylor, Milly Clegg, and Indi Riley... they’ve been integrated into the squad for ages. They’re already all first eleven players. This wasn’t a sudden line in the sand from Mayne, it was a continuation of what was already happening naturally as a new generation of players slowly replace the previous generation - as always happens when the older players come to the end of their careers. Mayne may have gotten a bit weird in how he explained it but the intimation is that CJ Bott, Katie Bowen, and Rebekah Stott will be back soon enough. Other than that, well, Hannah Wilkinson retired. Ali Riley is injured. Olivia Chance and Betsy Hassett had babies. Nobody’s been forced out... assuming that the aforementioned defensive trio return next time (as they absolutely should based on talent/form/experience).
Where Michael Mayne did mix it up was in the formation, sending the Fernies out in a 3-5-2 shape in both games and sticking with it throughout. The Football Ferns haven’t often tried a back three, despite the fact that a disproportionate amount of our best players are central defenders. Tom Sermanni used to alternate between three and four at the back quite often but the only time Klimkova did it was in a 5-0 loss against Portugal in Hamilton a few months before the World Cup. Easy to see why they canned it based on that outcome, especially with so little time left to be ready for a major tournament.
But you know what? The formation showed promise that day. They created a couple of good chances (against a very good Portuguese team) in the first half including a goal disallowed for offside. That’s a couple more than they usually create. The problem was that an inexperienced Kate Taylor made two individual errors that were punished by goals shortly before the break (including a VAR penalty – a rarity in friendly competition but those games were arranged around the Intercontinental qualifiers which did have VAR so they kept it consistent) and the team then crumbled inexcusably in the second half under pressure. More on that match in the ol’ archives. Gone went the back three experiment. Until now.
The most difficult thing will be getting the balance right with the wing-backs. We do have good players who can perform in those roles. Indi Riley’s been playing a lot as an RWB for Crystal Palace this season and she got plenty of action at LWB in these two games as well – an important wrinkle because that paves the way for CJ Bott to return at RWB. This formation would be ideal for getting the most out of CJB, whose workrate, defensive cover, and progressive carries are the features of her game. Hopefully she’s spent her free international window practicing her crosses. It’s also the case that Katie Bowen has been tearing it up for Inter Milan playing as a central defender in a back three (on the right side of the trio) while Kate Taylor has gotten a lot of similar repetitions for Dijon FCO in France (albeit they also play with a four quite a lot). It all makes a lot of sense.
We do lose out on having those wide midfielders in this shape... but it allows for two strikers and three midfielders, so there should always been someone free to drift wide and link with the wing-back. It was from a wide position that Macey Fraser, as a midfielder, set up the winner in game two. Annalie Longo’s been performing out of her skin for the Wellington Phoenix doing those same things. They’re going to have room to roam... and with two striker’s you also take some of the pressure off Milly Clegg, who is still only 19 years old. Regular wide midfield options like Grace Jale, Jacqui Hand, Gabi Rennie, and Katie Kitching are all equally adept in that second striker role (or in midfield in the case of Kitching) so they don’t have to stress about losing their places. Well, except for Rennie who wasn’t picked for this series. But her club season starts soon in Sweden so maybe she can play herself back in.
Crucially, this formation should give them more of a foothold in attack given how tricky it can be to transition out of a 4-4-2 when you’ve got two flat banks of four. The strikers should be less isolated. Just gotta be careful about getting hit behind the wing-backs where the defensive three gets too stretched. Aggressive counter-pressing ought to be a focus... but that’s something to worry about for future tours. Costa Rica didn’t really offer that particular threat (though they certainly did have some threats, don’t doubt that). The start of a new cycle is the ideal time to embed a new shape because there’s room for a bit of trial and error. It will take some adjustment. There will be mistakes. The first 45 minutes of this tour were kinda rough in that regard. But then there was progress made in each subsequent half.
That progress was reflected in the results with the Ferns fighting back after a slow start to draw 1-1 with Costa Rica in the first meeting on Sunday NZT. Then on Wednesday NZT they brought a significantly better defensive display, settling into the new formation, then managed to find really nice contributions off the bench leading to a 1-0 victory. Costa Rica are worse than New Zealand on paper (and by roughly 10 FIFA Rankings places) but they have made two World Cups before and are a dangerous enough side that they could have won these matches had the Ferns not shown up.
Most of the Ferns’ results woes are due to meeting lots of nations that are straight-up better than us... but there has been a creeping feeling that we’re getting worse at punishing the similar/worse teams too. Philippines at the World Cup most notably but the 0-0 draw with Thailand and consecutive defeats to Chile since then have added to this vibe. There were no such dramas here, friends. A win and a draw, away from home, with a new formation, with a new coaching staff, without a few key players... put that in your pocket and run. If these had been home games then perhaps we’d be justified in demanding two wins from two. But this wasn’t that so, all things considered, we can call it a very successful tour.
Following this, the Ferns will next be in action against Chinese Taipei (aka Taiwan) in the April window. Michael Mayne will remain as the interim for that, presumably with the same staff, though NZF have said that they expect to name a permanent coach afterwards. At this rate, Mayne’s doing exactly what Darren Bazeley did to get the All Whites job so it’s starting to feel as though the outcome is being hidden in plain sight but we’ll let it play out naturally, no stress.
There’ll be one closed-door game against Chinese Taipei followed by a proper friendly a few days later. Sometimes the closed-door ones are also fully capped though we probably won’t know until afterwards. Chinese Taipei will be building towards Asia Cup qualifiers which might be why they want a bit of secrecy. Seems like a waste from our perspective to only fit one proper game into a window but the point seems to be to maximise training ground time which does make sense. Usually you only get a couple of sessions per camp (and those camps are only every few months) because everything else is swamped by travel and recovery. Again, this doesn’t exactly feel like the behaviour of an interim.
Game Tahi: Costa Rica 1-1 New Zealand
The Costa Rican sojourn kicked off with a starting eleven of: Vic Esson in goal; Claudia Bunge, Kate Taylor, and Liz Anton across the back three (from right to left); Indi Riley at right-wingback; Mickey Foster as the defensive midfielder; Annalie Longo and Macey Fraser in midfield; Hannah Blake as left-wingback; Katie Kitching and Kelli Brown up front. Only three of those players started the first match of the Olympics (Taylor, Riley, Kitching) and they were all in different positions here.
Not gonna lie, the first 40-odd minutes of this tour were pretty ugly. The Ferns didn’t take immediately to the 3-5-2 formation with the back three getting stretched and leaving too much space. Costa Rica had their star player Priscilla Chinchilla (a former teammate of Meikayla Moore’s at Glasgow City) running rampant and the home side’s power, pace, and dribbling were causing issues all across the backline. Didn’t help that the two wing-backs were very attacking options either – at least Indi Riley has a lot of experience in that position... poor ol’ Hannah Blake was at left wing-back on her return to the international side and she looked very much out of position. Those need to be attacking roles in this style but they also need to be players who can balance that with their defensive duties.
Fortunately, Vic Esson was in goal. With no Anna Leat due to injury, Esson had a free rein on the gloves and it was only thanks to her that the Ferns weren’t 3-0 down after half an hour. Some spectacular saves in there. Diving one-handers. One on one stuff. Tips over the bar. Set pieces. Open play. Vic Esson’s come around into some wonderful touch at Rangers where she’s had a bunch of starts and kept a bunch of clean sheets over the past couple months. That carried straight on into national team duty. Thanks to Esson, the kiwis stayed close enough for Indiah-Paige Riley to score a beauty of an equalising goal just before half-time which changed the course of the match.
Banger. She’d nearly scored accidentally with a cross from a similar area a bit earlier so the next time she figured she’d try it for real and she scored. Riley then switched to the left for the second half, with Grace Neville subbed on at RWB, where she remained a strong attacking presence although her tendency to always cut inside was an issue at times. Something to work on... but she was very good overall. It took took Indi Riley a couple of years to where she’s become a standout talent for the Ferns but we’re certainly there now. The World Cup was huge for her and since then she’s had a goal-filled season with PSV and earned a transfer to Crystal Palace in the English WSL – arguably the top competition on the planet. IRP only just turned 23 in December. She’s blossoming into becoming one of NZ’s very best.
But she didn’t score a second goal and nor did anyone else. Even with a sturdier defence in the second half, there were still way too many sloppy touches going on. It was very windy at the ground and it’s possible the pitch didn’t help either (it looked fine on the coverage... but then it wasn’t exactly a stadium venue so you never know). Costa Rica’s physicality, mixed with the usual friendly refereeing tactic of whistling for everything, also kept disrupting proceedings. There were some moments of fluidity when Macey Fraser and Annalie Longo were able to combine, however Fraser’s only recently returned from a long injury so she wasn’t pushed for ninety minutes. Milly Clegg and Grace Jale both sat this game out too, further limiting the attacking options. It was alright. It was fine. A 1-1 draw gave them enough encouragement to build into the second fixture.
Game Rua: Costa Rica 0-1 New Zealand
Mayne made three changes for the Wednesday game. Milly Clegg was fit to start up front (it’s possible she was only rested for game one since she’s hardly played any footy over the past year outside of Ferns stuff). Jacqui Hand also started as a striker while Grace Neville was in at right wing-back. This time the Aotearoa side seemed to have a handle on Costa Rica’s attack. Chichilla was much quieter. There were still a few slippery instances but nowhere near as many as in the previous game and Vic Esson had those covered anyway. There was a visceral difference to the team’s tactical cohesion in the second hit-out.
But could they score a goal to win the thing? Well, there were some good runs up the line from Clegg. Neville was putting herself about. Riley was as much of a factor in this game as she had been in the previous one, though it would have been nice if her crosses would’ve landed for Hand or Clegg rather than Neville every time. Katie Kitching did some nice stuff in a deeper role more reminiscent of how she operates for Sunderland. Some dodgy offside calls went against the Ferns as well. These were only hints though. Allusions. Intimations. Projections. Time was ticking by and we needed to see discover something tangible.
As you know, that’s exactly what we got in the ninetieth minute when Maya Hahn, in her first Ferns squad, collected the ball wide open on the edge of the area and curled in a super finish to win the match. Beautiful sight to behold and a perfect way to announce herself to the Aotearoa fandom. She was very bright off the bench in both of these games, looking to get involved and take a few risks. Just what we need to see from our substitutes. However, the real game-changer was Macey Fraser.
Kelli Brown deserves some credit too. She was brought on as part of the same double-sub as Fraser (after 56 minutes) and did her usual 100% effort thing. Fans often use a percieved ‘lack of effort’ as the first thing to moan about with players as though anyone could run around at a full sprint for 90 minutes. There are always going to be lapses. There’s always going to be fatigue. But Kelli Brown is one of the rare players who actually seems like she can run all day at maximum capacity. It’s her very best quality. She brought that energy to San Jose and helped give the Ferns a jolt in that second half.
But Macey Fraser was the one who took it beyond. There’s no other player in the Ferns picture who has as much creative spark as she does. It was Fraser who set up Hahn’s goal, combining with her old buddy from the 2018 U17 World Cup (they briefly crossed paths at Ole Academy too – though probably wouldn’t have played much together anywhere else). She had multiple defenders mesmerised without even doing anything, simply because of the potential threat. Fraser can shoot, she can cross or pass with both feet, she can dribble, she can dribble into a shot. Her first year in the NWSL with Utah Royals was a difficult one but based on this Ferns tour she’s already looking like a more confident player than she was at the Phoenix... and she was awesome for the Phoenix.
Without her we’d be talking about a dull 0-0 draw and having to stretch to find the positives. Instead, the positives are clear for all to see. Two young players, offering exactly the type of creativity that this team has been desperate for, just combined for a 90th minute game-winner. Chuck that on top of the rest of it and that’s reason to rejoice.
Notes & Reaction
This was the Football Ferns’ first win since beating Thailand 4-0 in Christchurch in April 2024. It was their first away win since the Olympic qualifiers in February 2024. Also a first win outside of NZ against a non-OFC team since beating the Philippines 2-1 on USA soil in September 2022. And a first away win against a non-OFC team since beating South Korea 2-0 in Goyang in November 2021.
At the Olympics, Kate Taylor was playing the defensive midfield role that she converted into for the Wellington Phoenix in her last season there, while Michaela Foster was the left-back. On this tour, Taylor was back in central defence while Foster played defensive midfield. The interesting thing there is how this is completely consistent with what they’ve been doing for their clubs in the meantime. Taylor’s exclusively been a CB in France. Foster’s been a CDM (with a couple of LB stints) in England. Mayne’s been paying attention and he’s kept them there. This pattern is also true of Indy Riley playing wing-back for Crystal Palace. It’s true of Jacqui Hand being a striker for Sheffield United. It’s even true of Emma Pijnenburg making her debut as a right-sided defender like she often plays for Feyenoord, despite being a midfielder by preference.
Foster in the midfield feels like a quick fix while Malia Steinmetz recovers from an ACL tear that’ll probably keep her out of Ferns footy for all of 2025. Steiny had made that spot her own but now it’s wide open, especially if Taylor’s focussing on central defence (which is her best spot – though it’d be cool if we had two of her). Foster’s lack of pace and a few errant touches are a problem in that area of the pitch but then she’s also got supreme passing range and her two-footedness helps her access both sides of the field. We’ll see how it progresses... all our other midfielders in this squad (Longo, Fraser, Kitching, Hahn, Pijnenburg) are eights or tens rather than sixes. Foster did alright so she’s got a shot at nailing this one down.
Game one delivered debuts for Kelli Brown, Maya Hahn, and Manaia Elliott. Emma Pijnenburg made her debut in the second match. This quartet thus become the most recent Ferns debutants since Bri Edwards and Macey Fraser against Tonga almost exactly a year ago during Olympic qualifiers. The last time three Ferns debuted in the same game was in Jitka Klimkova’s first match (a 5-1 loss away to Canada with a covid-affected squad), when Jacqui Hand, Ava Collins, and Amelia Abbott all did so.
Since the start of Jitka Klimkova’s reign, when Esson became a regular selection, the Ferns have played 42 competitive games outside of the Oceania region. This is what that looks like when split by goalkeepers:
Vic Esson: 21 G | 5 W | 8 D | 8 L | 9 CS | 19 GA (0.9 per game)
Anna Leat: 11 G | 1 W | 1 D | 9 L | 2 CS | 18 GA (1.6 per game)
Erin Nayler: 10 G | 1 W | 0 D | 9 L | 0 CS | 32 GA (3.2 per game)
Obviously that’s not adjusting for the quality of the opponents, although Leat played all three Olympics games and Esson got all three World Cup games so those two are at least balanced out across the major tournaments. Plus there have been a lot of tours where they’d play one game each against the same opponent. Anna Leat is the more skilled goalkeeper overall... but there remains something special about when Vic Esson represents her country that can’t be ignored. We’ve got two quality keepers there. One’s currently injured, so the other steps up with a Player of the Series level effort. Next step is to build out the depth behind them because there is quite a drop between second and third right now, with all the other keeping options aged 23 or younger.
Players in the touring squad who didn’t feature: Grace Jale (injured), Mackenzie Barry, Ruby Nathan, Brianna Edwards, and Geo Candy. Two of them are backup keepers and another was injured. Ruby Nathan is a youngster in the squad, with four of her five caps coming against Oceania sides. Barry can be a bit annoyed at not getting any CB reps, though keep in mind that most of her Ferns appearances have come as a fullback (including her two starts at the Olympics) and those positions don’t exist in this formation. Seems she’ll have to serve up a strong end to the Welly Nix season because at least one or two defenders are going to have to make way from this squad for Bowen and Stott to return.
Pretty sunset…
Macey Fraser and Milly Clegg didn’t overlap at all on this tour. So our most creative player and our best finisher, both emerging young players (arguably already emerged but Fraser is 22 and Clegg is 19 so they’re early days in their careers regardless), have still only spent a combined seven minutes together on the pitch for the national team. So that’s something to look forward to.
Michael Mayne picked a consistent trio of Claudia Bunge, Kate Taylor, and Liz Anton across both games (the only change at any stage being Meikayla Moore replacing Bunge for the last twenty-odd minutes of both games). Having Taylor as the middle CB was great. She’s good in the air and most importantly has by far the best passing range of those three. The other two weren’t quite such a natural fit. Bunge’s passing let her down, while Anton had a couple of defensive lapses and the distribution wasn’t great from her either – although she does add a bit of a dribbling factor. Moore was decent in her smaller cameos. Her short passing isn’t always there but the long passing is magical. Again though, all this achieved was to prove that Katie Bowen and Rebekah Stott need to remain first eleven players. Each of them can pass, each can carry the ball forward, each wins headers and makes tackles. By leaving them out, it only highlighted their value.
Katie Kitching took a lot more of the set pieces than Michaela Foster did. Foz scored an Olimpico for Durham a couple weeks ago swinging one in with her left foot (it’s been nominated for WSL Championship Goal of the Month and she’s been nominated for Player of the Month – don’t forget to case your vote!) but she also hasn’t been taking them all for Durham. Not like the Nix where she had everything, left foot or right. Here, Kitching was taking right-footed inswinging corners and getting most of the free kicks. Moral of the story: Katie Kitching is also fantastic at set pieces. Even better than Mickey Foster, apparently.
Darren Bazeley was the assistant to the previous All Whites coach before getting the interim gig. There was a six-month gap between games after Danny Hay’s tenure ended. Then Bazeley had two tours with which to audition for the permanent role. He got a win, a draw, a loss, and had another game abandoned. Finally, nine months after the position became vacant, he was hired as the main man. Michael Mayne was also an assistant in the previous regime. He also took over full interim duties following a long break between games. He’s had a win and a draw with the Chinese Taipei game to follow next month, after which it will have been seven months since Klimkova’s resignation... though more like ten months since Klimkova’s initial stand-aside period. At least with the Ferns there haven’t been any yeah-nahs from any John Herdman types (himself a former Ferns coach). It really does feel like history is repeating itself here... which wouldn’t be the worst outcome, to be honest.
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