The Ford Football Ferns have played their penultimate game of 2023, drawing 0-0 against FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter-finalists Colombia in Bogotá. 

Head coach Jitka Klimková had named a much changed squad for this tour, with 10 players selected who weren’t part of the 23 selected for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, as she looks to experiment with her options before OFC Olympic qualifying in February. 

Two of those players, Ava Collins and Mackenzie Barry, were both named on the team sheet, a starting debut for Wellington Phoenix’s Barry. 

Colombia started the stronger of the two sides, with several great chances, buoyed by a loud home crowd at Estadio El Campin and a squad more acclimatised to the high altitude conditions. 

Midfielder Daniela Montoya had a good chance to open the scoring within the opening 10 minutes but was denied by a brilliant block from captain Rebekah Stott. 

On 19 minutes, Jorelyn Carabalí’s header went wide after getting on the end of a great freekick from Catalina Usme. 

With half-time approaching, Colombia had their best chance of the game with Mayra Ramírez hitting the crossbar after connecting with a Leicy Santos corner. 

The deflected shot was cleared by Katie Bowen and Michaela Foster to safety. 

Deep in first half added time, Colombia had another good chance but Leicy Santos slipped when in on goal to leave it scoreless at the break. 

 

If Colombia had the best of the first half, the Ford Football Ferns had the better of the second. 

Moments into the second 45 some neat interplay between Malia Steinmetz and Jacqui Hand put Hand in a good position but she couldn’t find space for the shot. 

Marcela Restrepo had a good chance after a great run but her finish from just outside the box went wide, the best opportunity of the second half for the home team. 

The best chance for either side came in the 77th minute as substitute Ally Green fired in a expertly placed corner which evaded the Colombian defence. 

Katie Bowen or Ava Collins just had to make contact to finish into an open goal but couldn’t connect in a crowded penalty box. 

Two minutes later another dangerous Ally Green corner found the head of Jacqui Hand but her shot was deflected wide. 

With full-time approaching, a quick counter found substitute Paige Satchell who used her pace to get into a great position but her shot to win the game was blocked. 

With a few minutes left of the game, Sunderland AFC midfielder Katie Kitchin was introduced for her debut, becoming Ford Football Fern number 205. 

 

Speaking after the final whistle, head coach Jitka Klimková looked forward to what she wants to see from her side in the second fixture next week:

“Well, definitely the same defensive effort like we had in this game. We were very compact, we were very hard to break down. 

“Colombia went behind us a few times so we need to clean that up. I want to see the same determination in the box. 

“I probably haven't seen our team defending the way how we have defended against Colombia and I was very proud of our players. 

“And then yeah, we want to keep the ball a little bit more. We'll play again in the altitude so if the ball will be moving, we will save our energy and wait for the right moment to penetrate forward, that's the first goal and the second one, we want to score.

“If we want to win the games, we need to find a way how we can put the ball into the net."

Final Score:

Colombia – 0
Ford Football Ferns - 0

Article added: Sunday 03 December 2023