Football Ferns vs Venezuela: Squad Yarns & Preview
The A-League has wrapped up, most of the leagues in Europe have ended, and that makes this a perfect time for a couple of Football Ferns games... in Spain? Yeah righto. The Fernies do desperately need games so anything is welcome and they’ll be taking on Venezuela in two matches at the start of June. One in Marbella and the other in Algeciras Seems like it would have been an ideal opportunity to bring a few games back to Aotearoa but apparently not. After this tour, the Ferns will have only played two of their past 21 fixtures in front of home crowds, dating back to the World Cup. Seems that wasn’t part of the WWC Legacy Plan. At least we will get to host the latter rounds of the next Oceania World Cup qualifiers, for what that’s worth.
You’d imagine the reason we don’t host a lot of games is because it’s expensive. But it’s expensive in other ways not to do so... a national team has to have a connection with the people it represents. There’s always chat about inspiring the next generation yet it’s pretty bloody hard to do that if they never get to see you. The players appreciate the home games with so many of them based overseas. It’s a rare chance to see friends and family, let alone play in front of them. Naturally, there will be complications involved – the travel factor is just as significant as the financial one – but one home series in the space of two years just isn’t cutting the mustard.
And why always Spain? The Ferns also played two games against Japan that were hosted in Spain this time last year. Plus there was a neutral ground friendly against Wales in 2022 that was held in España. Don’t forget a game against Norway (2019) and two against Scotland (2018). Meanwhile the All Whites have played Spanish friendlies against Canada (2018), Peru (2022), and DR Congo (2023). It seems this is the standard home-away-from-home for NZ Football... although they have spread those games around the country. Murcia is the most common locale but fixtures have also been held in Barcelona, Pinatar, and now the Ferns are going to Marbella and Algeciras.
Add them all together and that’s 11 NZF friendly fixtures held in Spain since the start of 2018, all of them being neutral venues. The Football Ferns have only ever played Spain twice (two draws back in 2015) and the All Whites just the once (a 5-0 loss at the 2009 Confederations Cup). But these teams play in Spain all the damn time. Spain has a lot of footballing academies with high level facilities. As far as neutral venues go, it’s pretty ideal. Sure beats the windy, bobbly, sunstruck conditions that they got in Costa Rica or the unplayable artificial surfaces in Chinese Taipei. That’s all fair enough. But during that same span of time there have only been 16 NZF friendlies hosted in Aotearoa (nine of those were Football Ferns games leading into the World Cup) and that kinda stings. Hardly anybody’s going to be in those Spanish grandstands (unless there’s a big Venezuelan diaspora that we don’t know about). Think of all the kiwi fans who’d love to be there instead.
These will be the first games that the Football Ferns have ever played against Venezuela – who’ll boast former Wellington Phoenix striker Mariana Speckmaier in their ranks. Quite a few of their players are based at Spanish clubs (including Gabriela García at Atletico Madrid) so the location suits them nicely. No NZer has ever played in the Spanish top flight, by the way. Male or female. It’s the last remaining big five Euro league left that we’ve never infiltrated. La Vinotinto have never qualified for a World Cup or Olympics but they do have the 2025 Copa America to prepare for in July. Venezuela’s coach is Brazlian Ricardo Belli who, coincidentally, was the coach that signed Abby Erceg to Toluca in Mexico earlier this year... and then got sacked immediately after her debut.
There’s a definite pattern here in the teams that the Ferns have been playing post-Olympics. Those Paris Games showcased a familiar version of the team where they were forced to sit tight and defend bravely against more skilled opponents. And they did an alright job of that, they usually do. That was how they beat Norway and drew with Switzerland at the World Cup. The one disappointing result in that tournament – and it was a doozy - was when they were unable to break down a weaker Philippines team that did the same trick to them. That’s the other side of the coin. It’s when the Footy Ferns are expected to dominate the ball and create chances against set defences that they’ve tended to struggle. Well, the last three tours have been against Costa Rica, Taiwan, and now Venezuela. All lower ranked teams. They didn’t get to play the Chinese Taipei games but they did get a win and a draw against Costa Rica and we’ll see what Venezuela has to offer.
Another factor here is that Michael Mayne will be continuing as interim coach for one more tour. The word was that the last one would be his last audition but then the games got canned so we’re going around again. The press release claimed that “recruitment for the next permanent Ford Football Ferns head coach [will be] concluded this month” but we’ve heard that story before, right? Just a reminder that Jitka Klimkova resigned in September so this whole saga has dragged on for eight months and counting. We’re almost up to the nine months that it took to confirm Darren Bazeley as All Whites coach following Danny Hay’s departure. Don’t ever claim that New Zealand Football can’t organise a piss-up at a brewery because they absolutely can. It just takes them a long time to find the beer.
That brings us to the squad where five changes have been made to the group that went to Taiwan. In come Grace Jale, Rebekah Stott, Betsy Hassett, Ally Green, and Deven Jackson. Out go Indiah-Paige Riley, Hannah Blake, and Jana Radosavljevic with a slightly larger group picked this time.
Stott’s return is a blessed one because she was one of the big three who were strangely ignored for the previous two tours with no satisfactory explanation being given. CJ Bott and Katie Bowen were the others. Bott and Bowen are still missing though that’s because they’ve both been injured. They did return to matchday squads for Leicester City and Inter Milan last week respectively... but CJB only played 15 mins off the bench and Bowen was an unused sub. Each had missed multiple weeks and those were the last games of their seasons so there’s no opportunity for them to ramp up further before Venezuela. Nah, just makes sense to let them rest. No need to be suspicious this time.
It’s to be expected at this time of the year but, yikes, the injury list is substantial. Indi Riley also missed the last few games of Crystal Palace’s season, Macey Fraser is currently out with a knee injury, Radosavljevic is hurt, and obviously we’ve got the long-termers of Ali Riley and Malia Steinmetz. A.Riley is back running pain-free so there’s a chance we’ve not seen the last of her in a Ferns jersey yet. Anna Leat isn’t injured but she’s not going to be picked as an international goalie while she’s playing striker for Hibiscus Coast in the NRFL Premiership – think of her situation as a sabbatical. Problem is, a full-strength Ferns eleven probably includes Leat, Bott, Bowen, I.Riley, Steinmetz, and Fraser. Some of those players have backups who’ll do the job. Others don’t... and it’s the attack that’ll suffer the most because we saw in Costa Rica how crucial Fraser and I.Riley are within the 3-5-2 system that Mayne is building.
Betsy Hassett’s return comes after she had a baby last year. She and Liv Chance have both been off the scene in order to bring new life into the world. Chance gave birth first but it was Hassett who was able to pick up where she left off with Stjarnan in Iceland, whereas Chance has only recently moved to Norway to play for Kolbotn (where Liz Anton has since joined her). Both are now starting regularly for their clubs... but Hassett’s season began sooner hence she’s won her Ferns spot back sooner.
Another thing to consider about Betsy Hassett’s return is that she’s actually been playing left-back for Stjarnan. Pretty consistently too. Michael Mayne has so far shown a tendency to lean into those positional alterations. For example, we’ve seen Kate Taylor in defence, Mickey Foster in midfield, and Indi Riley at wing-back following similar reps for their club teams even though each had been used in different positions at the Olympics. Hassett’s usually a midfielder for the national team but it might just be the case that she gets some left wing-back minutes with CJ Bott and Indi Riley, our best WBs, both absent. Ally Green’s also been recalled while Emma Pijnenburg’s played a fair bit of left-sided defence lately for Feyenoord (albeit in a back four which doesn’t promote the same overlapping tendencies as this Ferns system does). Manaia Elliott is another who could do a job there.
You know who else is here? Annalie Longo. Wellington Phoenix retirement hasn’t precluded her from trying to add another couple of Football Ferns caps to her resume. Longo’s actually only played five seasons of A-League footy in her career and she’s never gone further abroad so many a-time before has she gained international selection out of domestic footy in NZ. For that reason, it’s not impossible she sticks around with the Ferns for a wee while longer... but it’ll probably only be a wee while. Longo herself has spoken of wanting to see her spot claimed by younger players. Fresh off her brilliant Phoenix season, she’s fit enough to be there in Spain where her leadership and experience are always going to be valuable - even in a squad that’s recalled Betsy Hassett and Rebekah Stott there still are only four players with 40+ caps on this tour. It makes a lot of sense to pick her for this trip but will she still be around next time? That remains to be seen.
Goalkeepers
Vic Esson – Rangers, SCO (26 caps/0 goals)
Claudia Jenkins – Adelaide United, AUS (0/0)
Alina Santos – University of Denver, USA (0/0)
Same three goalies as last time, as is only fair given that the last tour was a write-off. With a bit of luck, Vic Esson will turn up for this tour having just won the Scottish Cup with a match-winning performance in the final against Glasgow City. That may well happen... but she didn’t start any of the final ten league games for Rangers as they blew their chance of winning the title on the final day (and also missed out on UCL qualification at the same time). Esson’s played well when she’s been picked this season, including a Champions League qualifier against Arsenal. She’s comfortable where she is with an ambitious club. But she’s only played around 40% of the games this term so you do have to wonder if she’d consider a move to somewhere she can be an undisputed starter. Having said that, 40% of games for a club like Rangers, plus a few Footy Ferns tours, means she’s still getting 20+ games per year which is decent work.
Claudia Jenkins was voted into the PFA Team of the Year for the past A-League season (along with Rebekah Stott and Annalie Longo). She was also awarded Adelaide United’s Red Army Player of the Season, as voted for by fans, after their best ever campaign in which they finished third and made the semi-finals. This has been her first season as a full-time starter and she’s been awesome. One of the better keepers in the competition. Whereas Alina Santos is only here for depth, we can probably expect Jenkins to debut in one of these games. Without Anna Leat, there’s no doubt that Vic Esson is the number one. But Jenkins has been picked on merit since committing to New Zealand a few months back. We haven’t seen it for the national team yet but her club exploits clearly make her the next keeper up.
As for Alina Santos, she was an absolute bolter in the Chinese Taipei squad and she gets a re-do after that tour went awry. Hers is a weird selection though. She’s only played six games in four years at Denver Uni and she redshirted the most recent season (meaning she didn’t play at all in order to preserve that year of college eligibility). Looking purely at the college system, Murphy Sheaff, Blair Currie, and Rylee Godbold spring to mind as keepers who’ve achieved more. Maddie Iro is the same trajectory. Let alone professionally-aligned keepers like Una Foyle, Brianna Edwards, Brooke Neary, Geo Candy, and Aimee Danieli.... though, to be fair, Sheaff, Edwards, and Candy have already been in squads since Mayne became interim coach (and he’d have worked with Danieli while he was assistant). This is a spot that only exists because Anna Leat is unavailable so it’s all about seeing what’s out there. Mayne has picked seven different keepers in his past four squads... which is really more like three squads since he’s re-upping from last time with this group.
Olympics: Anna Leat, Vic Esson, Murphy Sheaff
Costa Rica: Vic Esson, Bri Edwards, Geo Candy
Chinese Taipei & Venezuela: Vic Esson, Claudia Jenkins, Alina Santos
Defenders
Liz Anton – Kolbotn, NOR (22/0)
Claudia Bunge – Melbourne Victory, AUS (33/0)
Manaia Elliott – Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (1/0)
Ally Green - Calgary Wild, CAN (17/2)
Meikayla Moore – Calgary Wild, CAN (69/4)
Grace Neville – London City Lionesses, ENG (11/0)
Rebekah Stott – Melbourne City, AUS (106/4)
Kate Taylor – Dijon FCO, FRA (23/2)
One thing about the Mayne stratagem is that back-up central defenders can no longer moonlight as wide defenders. That’s probably a big reason why Mack Barry is no longer getting picked. She did go to Costa Rica but hardly got any minutes (this after she’d started 2/3 games at left-back at the Olympics) and then wasn’t selected for Chinese Taipei allegedly due to injury even though she returned to play for the Welly Nix before that team travelled. Now she’s not here at all. Rebekah Stott’s back and there are only so many CBs that can fit in a squad. Someone else is going to drop out when Katie Bowen returns too. Harsh on Barry but that’s how it goes.
So what does it take to make this squad as a central defender? Liz Anton won Player of the Year for Canberra United and earned a transfer to Norway. Claudia Bunge has been bossing it for the A-League champions Melbourne Victory – her third championship in four ALW seasons. She also somehow had eight goal contributions as a defender (5 goals, 3 assists) including a double in the semi-final first leg against Claudia Jenkins and then a late equaliser to force extra time in the grand final where they lost on penalties to Central Coast.
Rebekah Stott is a kiwi legend who made the PFA Team of the Year captaining Melbourne City. Meikayla Moore’s been scoring goals and running the show at the back for Calgary Wild in Canada. Kate Taylor’s a regular starter for a Dijon FCO team that finished one win away from qualifying for the Champions League. Katie Bowen’s not here but she was one of Inter’s best as they earned Champions League qualification. Look, fair play to the many contenders but these are some seriously high-achievers. Good’s not good enough to earn selection. As usual, this is our deepest and most talented position.
A couple more notes on that... glad to see Ally Green recalled. It was a bit weird that Meikayla Moore was being picked after several months without playing whereas her teammate in Canada, Ally Green, wasn’t despite having been much more active prior to her Northern Super League move. Positional elements did apply, granted. As did Moore’s experience in a squad short on that particular attritbute. Anyway, the season in Canada has finally kicked off and both kiwis have started every game for Calgary. Another thing to add is that Claudia Bunge has confirmed she signed a 1+1 deal when she returned to the Victory so park any Auckland FC ideas because there’s no way the Victory don’t take up that second year option (unless she begs them not to... and she’s already said she’s happy there).
Anton went straight from ALW to Toppserien so she’s only just begun her Norwegian stuff – immediately into the starting elven at centre-back, no worries there. It hasn’t been confirmed that Grace Neville will stay with London City Lionesses after their promotion to the WSL but the club recently announced six departures and she wasn’t one of them so that’s a great omen. The Neviller didn’t play heaps through that season but she did finally get a steady stream of starts towards the end as they were grinding out wins on the way to the second tier title. Contributing when it mattered most.
With no Indi Riley or CJ Bott, there’s a good bet that Neville will start at RWB. Manaia Elliott is the other one in that mix, while Ally Green’s the left-sided front-runner. This is a tricky position – and a crucial one in this formation – where you basically need the skills of a winger and of a fullback all at once. Emma Pijnenburg, Betsy Hassett, and maaaaybe Deven Jackson can also do the trick. But it’ll be tough. You sorta need those players to be among your very best performers to make it work. That’ll be true when IPR and Bott are there. It likely won’t when they’re not. But it’s a good opportunity for everyone else to change some perceptions and move themselves up the queue.
Midfielders
Michaela Foster – Durham, ENG (24/1)
Maya Hahn – Turbine Potsdam, GER (2/1)
Betsy Hassett – Stjarnan, ISL (157/16)
Katie Kitching – Sunderland, ENG (16/5)
Annalie Longo – Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (138/15)
Emma Pijnenburg – Feyenoord, NED (1/0)
Grace Wisnewski – Lexington SC, USA (3/0)
This is a lot of midfielders for a New Zealand national team... but remember that Pijnenburg and maybe even Hassett might not play in this position. EP’s just wrapped up her second full season with Feyenoord where she once again played in a cup semi-final and once again found a much more prominent spot in the team after the winter break (almost all of those appearances came as a fullback). Hopefully next year she won’t need to battle away for half a season before getting her minutes. She’s in a good spot though, making lovely progress. Already mentioned how Hassett’s been tracking.
Mickey Foster was predominantly a defensive midfielder for Durham this season and that’s where she played against Costa Rica too. She’s the only one here who’d be a natural number six, holding it down while Malia Steinmetz recovers from her ACL tear, so that’s probably her starting spot sorted. If not Foz then Kate Taylor might get nudged into that role. She did it against a star-studded Lyon side a few weeks ago.
From there we get into the funky stuff because somebody in this team has got to create the chances. Macey Fraser isn’t available and the wing-backs aren’t going to be first-choice either. Annalie Longo created more chances than any other player in the A-League last season so there’s a good start, albeit not one to rely on in the longer term. Maya Hahn’s Turbine Potsdam team were relegated without winning a game all season (Suya Haering also plays for them) so her chance-creation muscles haven’t had much of a work out lately though she did show what she can do by scoring the winner for NZ against Costa Rica. Hahn’s last action for Potsdam was to get sent off in a loss against Bayer Leverkusen. She already confirmed several weeks ago that she (along with many others from the squad... although not Haering) will be departing at season’s end so a few extra highlights for the national team may aid her in finding that next spot. Fingers crossed it’s a good one because Hahn does have the potential to play at a pretty high level. Would imagine she stays in Germany but that all depends on the offers.
Beyond that, Katie Kitching is coming off the most productive season of her career, having been supplying goals and assists at a regular clip for Sunderland. Can’t say the same for Grace Wisnewski with Lexington but at least she’s finally been getting some starts recently. Just another example of young kiwi players moving to the USA and being undervalued, a tale with countless variations over the years. Wisnewski earned the third and most recent of her NZ caps back in September 2023 back before she blew her ACL out. We’re a tad shy on proven international midfielders with no Fraser or Steinmetz in this squad so the recent addition of Hahn, the return of Hasett, the continuation of Longo, the form of Kitching, the reemergence of Wisnewski, and the reinvention of Foster are all very welcome. It’ll be interesting to see if Liv Chance can earn her way back into the squad soon. Also don’t be surprised if Grace Jale spends some time deeper on the pitch after she finished the Phoenix season doing midfield things and doing them very well.
Forwards
Kelli Brown – Perth Glory, AUS (2/0)
Milly Clegg – Halifax Tides, CAN (13/1)
Jacqui Hand – Sheffield United, ENG (33/8)
Deven Jackson – Newcastle Jets, AUS (1/0)
Grace Jale – Wellington Phoenix, NZ/AUS (35/9)
Ruby Nathan – Canberra United, AUS (5/1)
The inclusion of Deven Jackson is the most noteworthy thing here. After back injuries curtailed what was a really promising youth career, she surged back onto the scene with Eastern Suburbs in 2022 winning the National League and scoring a hat-trick in the grand final. That’s what led to her (and teammate Tayla O’Brien) earning Football Ferns debuts shortly afterwards... although that was in a non-window series against the USA where player availability was tricky. Hence it took a lot longer for her to get back again. Last season she was very solid with Canberra United in her first A-League stint. More recently she moved to Newcastle Jets where she was awesome. Even an extended spell on the sidelines with a fractured cheek following an injury suffered against the Wellington Phoenix didn’t slow her down too much, with DJ’s 6 goals in 18 appearances making her the top-scoring kiwi in the last ALW season. Kelli Brown also had some injuries along the way hence she had to settle for 5 goals from 13 games (Claudia Bunge’s post-season exploits also took her to five). Brown won her way into the Ferns for the Costa Rica series and now the other breakthrough kiwi in that competition has joined her.
Kelli Brown is there to play striker, where her intense workrate and hunger for goals always comes in handy. Milly Clegg would have missed the previous tour but she’s fit again for Halifax Tides and recently made her first couple of appearances in Canada’s new professional league. Same competition as Meikayla Moore and Ally Green. Clegg is already a first eleven forward for New Zealand with her knack for goals just too damn valuable to worry about her age and experience. Speaking of development, Ruby Nathan seems to have a permanent spot in these squads. She did recently get her first A-League goal so that was cool. Made it to the finals with Canberra United as well. Nathan’s been a Niche Cache favourite for a while now but it’s a little weird she keeps making national team squads ahead of more immediately ready/proven players. The potential is real, though.
Look for Jacqui Hand to be on the move soon. Sheffield United were relegated from the English second tier, the second season in a row that Hand’s been relegated from that division after suffering the same fate with Lewes FC. That’s not a very nice trend... and for that reason she potentially shapes as an overseas player who’d actually make sense as an Auckland FC target. But that’s a whole other article. In the absences of wingers in the new formation, Hand’s going to exclusively be one of the two strikers. Same as Clegg, Brown, and Nathan. Deven Jackson and Grace Jale might find themselves as attacking midfielders or out wide instead. Katie Kitching also started a game up front against CRC so there are options a-plenty.
And that’s without even looking beyond this squad. It’s a funny thing that after being so bereft of professionally-productive forwards, suddenly it’s one of our most abundant positions. Emma Main and Alyssa Whinham can’t seem to make it into these things from the Wellington Phoenix. Maggie Jenkins keeps getting overlooked despite an excellent season in Turkey. Gabi Rennie got dropped a few tours ago and some bright stuff in Sweden doesn’t seem to be enough to change that. Pity for Jana Radosavljevic who did get recalled from the wilderness last time only for that tour to be a bust and now she’s injured. Kiara Bercelli is probably a few steps away right now but she did play several times in Serie A for Sampdoria this season (they’ve been relegated, unfortunately). One of only three kiwi women to ever feature in that competition following after Katie Rood and Katie Bowen. Central defence remain the strongest zone in the squad but it seems that the forwards are making a move. The difference is that those defenders are all in career-best form whereas the strikers are mostly inexperienced or unproven, and the competition for places driven by how few of them have made an undeniable claim to the jersey as of yet. Let’s see who steps up against Venezuela.
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