Michaela Foster of New Zealand. Women’s International Friendly - New Zealand Football Ferns v Argentina at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand on the Friday 20 February 2023. Copyright Photo: Jeremy Ward / www.photosport.nz Photo: Jeremy Ward
The Football Ferns were beaten 1-nil by Argentina last night in Auckland in the New Zealanders' final international friendly before the World Cup.
Despite another improved performance, the Football Ferns are winless in their last eight games.
Betsy Hassett captained the side for the first time, as her roommate Ali Riley was ruled out with her thigh injury that kept her out of the last game, one of the seven Aucklanders in the starting XI.
The Ferns demonstrated their grit and commitment to the cause early on, flying into tackles and surging forward, with Grace Jale in particular getting on the ball and looking to stretch the Argentine defence.
Shortly before halftime, Hannah Wilkinson inches away from breaking the deadlock, as Betsy Hassett charged forward through the middle to release Rennie, whose cross Wilkinson narrowly diverted on the wrong side of the upright
While the Fooball Ferns, who are ranked 24 in the world, put in their strongest performance of the series, it wasn't enough to get the result they craved at North Harbour Stadium.
They conceded in the 77th minute, Erin Nayler made a fine save from Monday's goalscorer Mariana Larroquette, but the Argentine forward made it two from two against the Ferns as she diverted her follow up shot past the sliding Claudia Bunge.
Late substitutions in Ava Collins, Indiah-Page Riley and Michaela Foster refreshed the Ferns going forward, including a late Foster freekick on the edge of the penalty area, which was comfortably gathered by Laurina Oliveros.
Despite the side applying the most promising attacking pressure of the series, they were ultimately unable to convert that pressure and presence into goals against Argentina, ranked 29 in the world.
After the game, head coach Jitka Klimková spoke to media, reflecting on a game with plenty of endeavour and another improvement, but not the desired result.
"Obviously, again, the result didn't go our way, which is very disappointing. If I would take the positives from this game, I think specifically in the first half we improved our possession.
"We connected much better than in previous games, which was something we were focusing on, and we wanted to improve that in the game. So that's something that I am taking from this game as an improvement and as a positive."
The World Cup starts in July in Australia and New Zealand.
