The Football Ferns are set to come up against former coach John Herdman and his new charges Canada, as well as fairly frequent opponents China PR and the Netherlands.
The showdown with Canada is set to take place on 11 June 2015 at Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, and it’s one Herdman for one is looking forward to.
Canada’s head coach Jcould not hold back a beaming smile when his former team New Zealand were confirmed to be in the hosts’ Group A. Herdman coached the Football Ferns from 2006 to 2011, guiding the team to the 2007 and 2011 Women’s World Cups, and he will now face his former side in an unfamiliar role as the host country’s man in charge.
“I get a chance to play against my old team New Zealand, which I was hoping was going to happen,” Herdman said minutes after the draw.
“I’ve only coached two groups of players in the women’s game. The New Zealand girls meant a lot to us, so to be able to share a moment in Canada is going to be really cool.
“I think Group A is not an easy group, but it’s not a hard group for us either. We think if anything it’s a group we can finish top of as most teams are ranked lower than us.”
Tony Readings, Herdman’s successor, will be looking to lead The Antipodeans past the group stage for the first time in the nation’s competition history. New Zealand have yet to win a group stage match in the tournament, and while a victory against the hosts would be an upset, it would be immediately inserted into New Zealand women’s football folklore.
While the Canada-New Zealand meeting will take most of the headlines, China PR and the Netherlands both offer intriguing narratives. China PR head coach Hao Wei takes a side that will surely be hungry to make a positive early impression on the proceedings after the country missed out on Germany 2011, the only edition they failed to qualify.
While the world welcomes back a tournament regular in China PR, the Netherlands will be one of eight new faces to participate at Canada 2015. Head coach Roger Reijners’ side were the last European team to qualify, doing so in dramatic fashion in a two-leg play-off against Italy.
Reijners will be leading a side that represents the first ever Dutch team to play in a FIFA women’s competition. If the OranjeLeeuwinnen are able to use their momentum from UEFA qualifiers, they could very well book a place in the Round of 16.
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