Tournament feature
World Kicks: New Zealand
She Kicks, issue 71, February 2022 pp.53–55
Glenn Moore’s World Kicks country profile of New Zealand, co-hosts of the 2023 World Cup with Australia. It traces a unique double, winning the first Asian Cup in 1975 having never played a game before being invited, and the first Oceania Nations Cup in 1983, before Australia overhauled them. The Football Ferns qualify regularly but have won two, drawn four and lost 22 of 28 matches at finals, though a ranking of 22 reflects how hard they are to beat. Jitka Klimkova, the first full-time female Ferns coach, replaced Tom Sermanni. Star players are mostly defenders: Abby Erceg, captain Ali Riley and Ria Percival. The piece covers a much-changed domestic league, the new professional Wellington Phoenix playing all fixtures in Australia under Gemma Lewis, and the World Cup host cities.