But balancing the often conflicting demands of short and long term goals in international sport is a tricky business, something Erceg can certainly attest to at the moment.
After holding a 1-0 halftime lead thanks to a fourth minute goal from Hannah Wilkinson, the Football Ferns fell to a 2-1 defeat by Switzerland on Saturday at the Cyprus Cup.
Centre back Erceg, the most capped player in Football Ferns history with 94 appearances, says Saturday’s performance didn’t reach the team’s usual defensive standards against a side they are familiar with.
“We’re obviously really disappointed with it,” Erceg said. “We usually pride ourselves on being really strong defensively so to make such basic errors is really disappointing for us.”
“It was definitely a game of two halves. We played well in the first half, got an early goal and lost our rhythm in the second half.
“We’ve played them a few times before so we know a little bit about each other so it’s a battle of tactics and who can execute their tactics best on the day and obviously that was them today.”
After hauling themselves up to 16th in the FIFA Women’s Rankings in 2013 with only three losses in 11 internationals, the New Zealand side, despite putting in some strong team performances in their five matches in 2014 to date, have lost four times.
Erceg says that’s a source of frustration but the 24-year-old is still maintains a touch of perspective with young players involved in the group and World Cup and Olympic tournaments on the horizon.
“It’s really disappointing especially after the year we had last year being so successful and making such big gains.
“We keep that big picture in the back of our mind and make sure we’re working towards the ultimate goal but it is disappointing, you want to win as many games as you can.
“The ultimate result for us would be to play well and get the result but at the moment we can’t get both which we’re obviously working towards.”
Erceg – who plays her club football for USV Jena in the German Bundesliga along with Ferns team mates Ria Percival and Amber Hearn – remains resolute in her approach to the game she loves; individual and team improvement will fuel the fire of success.
“I’m still developing certain parts of my game that I need to improve and help this team achieve what we want to achieve in 2014,” Erceg said.
“New player or not, everybody works on what they need to do to help this team achieve gold medals and trophies.
“We’re all in a bit of rut at the moment but that’s okay, as long as everybody is learning and helping each other then it will be worth it in the long run.”
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz

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