New Zealand finish third in Group B behind the French and a rampant Dutch side – who qualified for the final with a 6-0 win over Switzerland – and now playoff for 7th overall against the Mexicans who beat Northern Ireland 3-1 to finish unbeaten in second place in the Group C.
Early pressure from New Zealand paid dividends as Sandrine Lusang turned a Hannah Wilkinson pass into her own net to give New Zealand a sixth minute lead and Wilkinson and Amber Hearn both went close to giving New Zealand a bigger advantage soon after.
Marie-Laura Delie struck an equaliser in the 16th minutes and gave the French a 2-1 lead three minutes later, while Eugenie Le Sommer finished off a swift counter-attack in the 25th minute for France’s third and New Zealand fullback Anna Green bent a corner kick in at the back post to complete a goal-laden first half.
With six substitutions in the second half, the Football Ferns continued their Cyprus Cup policy of rotating players but stayed in the game until the final eight minutes when Delie – completing her hat trick – and Elise Bussaglia both caught a stretched New Zealand side on the break as it chased the game.
“It was a solid 60 minutes from New Zealand and a pretty exciting first half for the spectators as both teams went into the game pretty positively,” Said New Zealand coach John Herdman.
“We went up early and then the French caught us on the counter just like the Dutch did. It’s the same thing, an error in defence or a midfield turnover and within two passes they are behind you and it’s in the back of the net.
“We’ve learned some lessons about counterattacking football on this tour. We’re trying to attack and be positive in our play but we’re realising that if you are not tidy on the ball in midfield, opposition will put centre backs under pressure. Against a team like Switzerland you might be able to get away with it but not a World Cup team like France.”
New Zealand wraps up the Cyprus Cup on Thursday morning against Mexico, a team they will also face in Germany on July 6 in their final World Cup pool match.
“We will have to take stock as playing Mexico wasn’t something that was on the radar until a few days ago,” Herdman said.
“We have still got some players we want to look at and that were pencilled in for some game time in the next game to give them a chance to impress and to get a feel for the system.
“Regardless of it being a World Cup opponent, we have to stick to our plan and get a clearer idea on which players are getting closer to that final World Cup squad.
“That said, the players we put out there I’m sure will be keen to strike a psychological blow and while we got some other outcomes to get from the match, every game we go into we want to win.”
2011 Cyprus Cup
GSP Stadium, Nicosia
New Zealand 2 (OG 6’, Anna GREEN 31‘)
France 5 (Marie-Laura DELIE 16’, 19’ 82; Eugenie LE SOMMER 25‘, Elise BUSSAGLIA 84’)
Halftime: 2-3
New Zealand: 1-Jenny BINDON (GK), 3-Anna GREEN (2-Ria PERCIVAL 46‘), 4-Katie HOYLE, 5-Abby ERCEG, 6-Rebecca SMITH, 7-Ali RILEY, 8-Hayley MOORWOOD (Captain / 11-Kirsty YALLOP 46’), 9-Amber HEARN (10-Annalie LONGO 79’), 12-Betsy HASSETT (23-Olivia CHANCE 74’), 14-Rosie WHITE (15-Sarah GREGORIUS 65’), 17-Hannah WILKINSON (16-Emma KETE 46‘).
Substitutes not used: 18-Kristy HILL, 19-Hannah WALL, 20-Aroon CLANSEY (RGK), 22-Terri-Amber CARLSON.
Coach: John HERDMAN
All schedule and results on www.cypruswomenscup.com
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz