Football Ferns to harness World Cup home support

Photo: Lynne Cameron/www.photosport.nz

New Zealand will draw energy from a raucous atmosphere in Dunedin as they look to book a place in the FIFA World Cup knockout phase with victory over Switzerland tonight.

Co-hosts New Zealand will reach the last 16 with a win, though a draw may be enough if Norway beat the Philippines in the other Group A match.

With Dunedin boasting a big student population, the roofed stadium is famous for rowdy crowds and a party section of the terraces called “The Zoo”, where fans often dress up in costume.

“I think the way the stadium is set up it’s going to be loud. It’s going to echo,” New Zealand goalkeeper Victoria Esson told reporters.

“I can’t wait to see how (the fans) get on our side and help us get over the line tomorrow.”

Having upset Norway 1-0 in their opener for their first ever World Cup victory, New Zealand fell back to earth with a 1-0 defeat to the Philippines in Wellington.

The setback has done little to dent the co-hosts’ spirits, though, with coach Jitka Klimkova raving about her players’ sharpness at training.

Klimkova said they had worked hard on execution in front of goal after being thwarted by the Philippines.

“We reviewed (the Philippines game) … and we saw a lot of good football during that game.

“We lacked a little bit of composure in the final third but how many times we entered the final third, that was one of our records in our play.

“Today’s session and the last game that we played was one of our best football (sessions) I’ve seen.”

Switzerland are top of the group on four points, one ahead of second-placed New Zealand, after holding Norway to a draw and beating the Philippines 2-0.

“We are first in the group, and we want to stay in this position,” said Switzerland coach Inka Grings.

“We’ll know what to expect. We are looking forward to this game as it’s a unique event to play against the co-host.”

Since the first edition in 1991, the hosts have always qualified for the knockout stages and New Zealand will advance if they win.

Qualification will also mark the first time in six attempts they have reached the knockouts.

But with three points separating table toppers Switzerland and bottom side Norway, all four teams have a shot at qualifying for the last 16.

Tie-breaking criteria may come into play if New Zealand draw, depending on Norway’s result against the Philippines, while a loss will definitely see the Football Ferns eliminated.

Norway, however, will be without injured striker Ada Hegerberg after the Ballon d’Or winner failed to recover in time from a groin injury that saw her withdraw from the previous game before kickoff.

Group H

Germany and Colombia are top of Group H with three points each ahead of their clash on Sunday and the European side’s quest for a third title was dealt another blow when they lost a third defender to injury.

Full back Felicitas Rauch suffered a knee injury in training to join Giulia Gwinn and Carolin Simon on the sidelines but coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg believes others will step up.

“We know what type of backup options we have… We take some strength from that. We want to basically be in that mindset where it doesn’t matter who’s standing there on the actual pitch,” she said.

Colombia had their own scare when teenaged striker Linda Caicedo collapsed in training but coach Nelson Abadia said the 18-year-old, who became the youngest player to score in the tournament, is fine.

“She was tired. She was a bit stressed as well, because she was playing in her first World Cup,” Abadia said.

“It was just an episode, it’s finished, it’s over. We’re quite happy about this, no problem.”

– Reuters