New Zealand, host country with Australia, attack “its” Women’s World Cup with a summit against Group A favorites, Ada Hegerberg’s Norway, before more affordable duels against the Philippines and Switzerland. The “Football Ferns”, nickname of the New Zealand team, kick off the first World Cup in Oceania on July 20 at 07:00 (GMT time), in front of their supporters at Eden Park in Auckland, a mythical temple of the oval.
The support of the public will not be too much to hope to counter the Norwegian armada, twelfth in the Fifa ranking, led by Caroline Graham Hansen and the emblematic Ada Hegerberg, first winner of the Women’s Ballon d’Or in 2018. “We must be ambitious but also realistic. Our latest results have not been very good. We want to show a better image of Norway,” said the OL star striker, who returned from injury during the season.
In the first round, in any case, the Scandinavians will be favorites against the players from New Zealand who have never managed to pass the first round of a World Cup. Their best result was in 2012 at the London Olympics, when they reached the quarter-finals. New Zealand coach Jitka Klimkova has made the surprise choice not to call up the oldest of the team, defender Meikayla Moore, who recently won the Scottish Premier League title with Glasgow.
“I have absolute faith that they will give everything for our team and the country in July,” the technician said recently, adding: “I think we have found a good balance between youth and experience within the team. , between the ten players making their debut and the other members of the group who have participated in several Women’s World Cups.
The Swiss, led by PSG striker Ramona Bachmann, will be able to smash the ambitions of the host country if they manage to win one of the first two qualifying places in the round of 16.