By Samindra Kunti in Dunedin, New Zealand
July 30 – Co-hosts New Zealand crashed out of the Women’s World Cup on home soil after a goalless draw against Switzerland. In Group H, Colombia defeated Germany 2-1 in one of the tournament’s all-time upsets.
It was a bittersweet ending for the co-hosts, who have not reached the knockout stage of the finals in five previous finals. They came agonisingly close in Dunedin. In the space of eleven days, the Football Ferns had gone from heaven to hell, and on a night of great drama, their World Cup dreams were shattered by a resolute Switzerland, who progress to the last 16 as Group A winners.
In trying to ease the pain of elimination, New Zealand manager Jitka Klimkova downplayed the result and emphasised all the positives from a “successful” tournament.
“A lot of players that have been with this team for a long time, they had to wait for five World Cups to have this moment of celebration and win their first World Cup game,” said Klimkova at a news conference.
“We had seven debutants, seven players who stepped on the field for the first time ever at the World Cup, and we achieved, we got four points, we got two clean sheets, that is an absolutely amazing result. I’m sure we really inspired a lot of young girls and boys to start playing football, that was one another of our priorities and goals.”
Hannah Wilkinson and the Ferns had become household names following their surprise win against Norway in the tournament’s curtain raise and on Sunday they could have truly cemented the position of the women’s game, but they struggled against a more than economic Switzerland. Sitting deep with little intent to score, the Swiss were minimalist and fell just short of staging a hold-up.
The Football Ferns were energetic in the first half and the best opportunity fell to Jacqui Hand, whose lob from a tight angle rattled the woodwork. It was a déja vu from the Philippines and perhaps a sign that it was not going to be New Zealand’s night. After the pause, the co-hosts lacked the legs and incisiveness to dislodge the Swiss backline.
Few would have predicted for New Zealand to get results against Norway and Switzerland but lose against the Philippines to exit the tournament when they always do – in the group stage. “Bittersweet,” said substitute Grace Jalen. “Gutted,” reflected Katie Bowen.
Klimkova added: “The connection with New Zealand is what we wanted during these weeks. We were close to a historic result.”
In Sydney, Colombia wrote history by beating two-time champions Germany 2-1 in dramatic fashion. Backed by a partisan crowd, Linda Caicedo – a cancer survivor, who dropped to the ground in practice earlier this week because of fatigue – provided a magic touch with her opening goal in the 52nd minute, but Germany drew level on the stroke of full-time after evergreen Alexandra Popp converted a penalty.
There was however one last twist: in the 7th minute of injury time Manuela Vanegas headed in the winner to seal Colombia’s second consecutive win at the tournament.
“This is something historic for us. We’ve been feeling the whole time the backing from the fans from our country,” said Colombia assistant coach Angelo Marsiglia. “Today we were playing as a home team.”
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