Strikes to Rebecca Smith, Sarah Gregorius and a Ysis Sonkeng own goal were enough to earn the Ferns their first victory in a FIFA tournament and a groundbreaking first appearance for a New Zealand women’s team in the knockout stages of a pinnacle event.
Pre-match tension and uncertainty was eased during the warm-ups as news of USA’s win over North Korea filtered through to the players, giving them the knowledge that a win was good enough to progress as one of two best third-placed finishers.
The Football Ferns dominated from the start but Katie Hoyle’s dipping 25-yard shot that was tipped on to the post in the 33rd minute was New Zealand’s best chance until captain Smith headed Ria Percival’s corner in at the back post two minutes before the half-time break.
Rosie White, in the starting eleven in place of suspended Hannah Wilkinson, got better as the game went on and teed up New Zealand’s second and third goals.
Three minutes in the second spell, White cut a ball back into the box which Sonkeng turned into her own net and in the 65th minute a White cross from the right was buried with a well-timed header from Gregorius to give the Kiwis some breathing room.
Cameroon’s Gabrielle Onguene netted from a set piece 10 minutes later to give the Africans scent of a comeback but that hope was extinguished as New Zealand reasserted control to close out the match and book a quarter-final against defending Olympic champions USA in Newcastle on Friday.
“We are really happy with the result and the performance as well,” New Zealand coach Tony Readings said.
“What’s most satisfying about reaching the quarter-finals is that we fully deserved it over the course of the three games. You work so hard during these tournaments but you don’t often get what you deserve so when you do it’s a really satisfying feeling.
“But for us now, we’ve reached the quarter-finals and our attention switches straight to Friday and the USA. That’s a tough game but it’s a game we are looking to win. The prep starts tomorrow and it’s full steam ahead.”
While the progression to the knockout stages is historic, Readings reiterated that his team are not going to be happy with settling for breaking new ground.
“We came here to play six games – at an Olympics you should be aiming to do that and win the gold medal. To do that we’ve always said we’ll need to grow with each game. Normally in these tournaments the team that wins it is not necessarily team that starts with a bang, they are the ones who grow slowly through the tournament.
“We feel we’ve done that. We were good against Great Britain and were very unlucky to come away with nothing and were better against Brazil. Today in patches, particularly in the middle section of the game, we played some of the best football we’ve played for a long while.
“We think we’ve taken a step up every game and we’ll need to do that in the quarter-final.”
The other quarter-finals of Friday see Group E winners Great Britain face Canada, Sweden take on France and Brazil meet world champions Japan. New Zealand’s quarter-final kicks off at 1.30am on Saturday (NZT).
New Zealand’s men also have the chance of reaching the quarter-finals when they meet Brazil in Newcastle at 1.30am tonight.
Women’s Olympic Football Tournament
New Zealand: 3 (Rebecca SMITH 43’, own goal 48’, Sarah GREGORIUS 65’)
Cameroon: 1 (Gabrielle ONGUENE 75’)
Halftime: 1-0
City of Coventry Stadium, Coventry
July 31, 2012
New Zealand: 1-Jenny BINDON (GK), 2-Ria PERCIVAL, 4-Katie HOYLE, 5-Abby ERCEG, 6-Rebecca SMITH (captain), 7-Ali RILEY, 9-Amber HEARN, 10-Sarah GREGORIUS, 12-Betsy HASSETT, 13-Rosie WHITE, 16-Annalie LONGO
Substitutes not used: 3-Anna GREEN, 8-Hayley MOORWOOD, 11-Kirsty YALLOP, 14-Kristy HILL, 15-Rebekah STOTT, 18-Rebecca ROLLS (GK)
Coach: Tony READINGS
Cameroon: 1-Annette NGO NDOM (GK), 3-Ajara NCHOUT (9-Madeleine NGONO MANI 46’), 4-Yvonne LEUKO, 5-Augustine EJANGUE, 6-Francine ZOUGA (17-Gaelle ENGANAMOUIT 78’), 7-Gabrielle ONGUENE, 8-Raissa FEUDJIO, 11-Adrienne IVEN, 12-Francoise BELLA (captain / 16-Jeannette YANGO 58’), 14-Bibi MEDOUA, 15-Ysis SONKENG
Substitutes not used: 10-Bebey BEYENE, 13-Claudine MEFFOMETOU, 18-Reine SOSSO (GK)
Cautions: Bibi MEDOUA 21′, Augustine EJANGUE 51′, Jeannette YANGO 76′
Coach: Ngachu ENOW
For the full schedule and results visit www.london2012.com
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand Football visit www.nzfootball.co.nz