Brave New World (Nicola Demaine, Papua New Guinea)

A short but substantial set-piece with Papua New Guinea head coach Nicola Demaine, who hails from London, after her side beat Fiji 2-1 to win the OFC Nations Cup and reach an intercontinental play-off for the 2023 World Cup. She credits players who trusted a complete stranger and sacrificed six months, singling out Meagen Gunemba leading the attack and Rayleen Bauelua holding the midfield, both of whom transformed themselves physically from the first camp. Demaine is candid about the gap between PNG’s players and the other play-off nations, whom her team have never measured themselves against apart from New Zealand, and expects a David and Goliath situation while noting how that story ended. Sponsors are arriving, and she wants under-17 and under-20 teams built behind the current group.