The New Zealand women's football team will come up against one of the best sides in the world when they play an international friendly against Japan in Wellington in June.
The World number 20 Ferns will play the World number 11 at Westpac Stadium as part of their preparations for the FIFA Women's World Cup qualifiers in New Caledonia this November.
Football Ferns. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Football Ferns coach Andreas Heraf says taking on the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup champions and 2015 runners-up will be a great test for his side.
"Japan are a world-class team and a great opponent for us to face at this stage of our World Cup cycle," Heraf says.
"We will be looking for a strong performance after our games against Scotland in March but we know it will not be easy as they are a world-class team. They have a lot of top quality players and good experience throughout their squad," he adds.
"We look forward to the test and believe this will be the ideal preparation, should we qualify, for the World Cup in France next year. If we want to progress to the Round of 16 then we need to be able to compete with teams of this quality."
It will be the first time the Ferns have played at home since they took on Australia in Auckland in 2015 and their last appearance in Wellington was in 1991.
Japan boast an impressive record in recent times. They reached their highest ever world ranking of third on the back of their World Cup success in 2011 in Germany. Back then, Japan beat the USA on penalties in the final after a 2-2 draw, becoming the first Asian team to win the FIFA Women's World Cup and a senior FIFA title.
This year, they finished sixth at the Algarve Cup and won the AFC Women's Asian Cup title for the second time in their history last month. They have already qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup next year.
New Zealand and Japan have met eight times throughout their history with the Nadeshiko winning six of those games and the other two ending in draws, in 2008 and 2013. It will be the first time the two teams have played each other since Japan won 1-0 in Kagawa in 2015.
-RNZ
