They were the worthiest champions. Dominant against the weaker teams and efficient against their fellow challengers. Spain delivered a clinic in possession-based football, built around an incredible midfield and a couple of superbly aggressive fullbacks
In the end, the thing that kept the Football Ferns from making the knockouts of their home World Cup was the thing that was always going to be the problem: their lack of goals
What can you say? The bro knows where the goal is. Given the start up front for Plymouth Argyle in their EFL Cup first round match against Leyton Orient, Ben Waine responded with a first half brace and went on to win man of the match
Every Wellington Phoenix season gets underway with an Australia Cup jaunt. They’re always played on the other side of the Tasman Sea, usually against a lower-tiered NPL club, and generally very early in their preseason activities.
The opening day of the new season is always a special occasion filled with hope and expectation. Players are fired up after another tough preseason, fans are brimming to be back in the stands again
The Football Ferns didn’t quite reach the resplendent realms of the World Cup knockout phase but the word ‘fail’ and its derivatives have no place in such conversations
It has begun. Following a preseason that went pretty much perfectly for both Marko Stamenic and Red Star Belgrade, the Serbian league season has kicked off in pretty much perfect fashion too
And so here we are again. For the sixth time in six attempts, the Football Ferns have been knocked out in the group stage of a FIFA World Cup... but this one wasn’t like the others
From the moment he was announced as the new Wellington Phoenix Men’s Manager, Giancarlo Italiano has made it clear that he backs the club’s academy system and the players coming through it
Well that clearly didn’t go to plan. After beating Norway in a thrilling, impassioned, amazing upset in the tournament opener the Football Ferns would have been all but on the brink of the World Cup knockouts…
You already know how Zac Jones got here. You know about how he won the gloves at Haverfordwest County with a series of strong performances last season. You know about his penalty heroics in helping them qualify for the Europa Conference League prelims
It was hard not to get caught up in the emotions of that legendary Football Ferns victory. All you had to do was peek at Ali Riley after the final whistle, eyes all watery, embraced by a beaming Vic Esson, leaning her head back and roaring into the night sky: “We did it!”
It began with a goal kick, it ended in a goal. In between five different players combined for six touches as the Football Ferns gave the 2023 World Cup its iconic opening game moment
The whole year has been building up towards this for FC Haka and their two kiwi compadres. We’re talking about the start of Europa Conference League qualifying, where Haka had been drawn up against Crusaders of Northern Ireland
We’re now only days away from kickoff at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and preparations are complete. No more friendly games, no more training camps. Just fierce anticipation for the main event.
The squad is set, training camp is over, the practice games are finished, and all the rival nations have amassed in Aotearoa and Australia for the biggest standalone female sporting event on the planet
The New Zealand U19’s Women just spent a couple of weeks in Fiji working on qualifying for next year’s U20 World Cup. The Oceania Women’s U19s Championships.
This current transfer window burst open with all sorts of anticipation for impending kiwi transfers but that shouldn’t surprise anyone because that’s quickly become the norm these days
It was a Football Ferns victory in Napier. They gave Vietnam a whallopping and while they didn’t make it as emphatic on the scoreboard as they should have... a 2-0 victory definitely counts as a hiding by Footy Ferns standards
Roughly nine months after Danny Hay’s tenure as All Whites coach ended, New Zealand Football have finally announced his replacement: former assistant and interim coach Darren Bazeley