Several fresh faces could take the field for the Football Ferns this month with one player receiving a first ever call-up and three others returning to the international fold after significant time away.

Coach Tom Sermanni has named a 22-strong squad for the two-match tour of China, in which New Zealand will take on the hosts before meeting either Brazil or Canada in Yongchuan, Chongching City.

The only complete newcomer is defender Claudia Bunge but goalkeeper Lily Alfeld and midfielder Jana Radosavljevic are likewise yet to be capped. Alfeld was last involved in the Football Ferns set up for a Cyprus Cup campaign back in 2014 while Radosavljevic’s only previous call-up came at the end of 2017 for a trip to Thailand.

Blake was also called up for that tour and earned her only cap so far in a scoreless draw with the hosts in Bangkok.

Defender Nicole Stratford was a late addition to the FIFA Women’s World Cup squad in June but did not feature in France and could join the others in making her debut after recently entering the professional game in Germany.

Bunge had been joined by Michaela Robertson in receiving a first call-up but the Capital midfielder was not able to take her place after suffering an ill-timed injury.

Abby Erceg, who has just captained North Carolina Courage to a second consecutive National Women’s Soccer League title, is also unavailable due to personal circumstances while Sermanni is not able to call on the services of fellow defenders Meikayla Moore and Anna Green due to injury.

Centurion Katie Duncan will also not be involved after recently retiring but Sermanni is excited by the group he will take to China and says the absence of those established stars gives others the chance to shine.

“Going into the World Cup, our two starting centre backs were Meikayla and Abby,” he says.

“We’re missing both of those but that will give an opportunity for some other players to go into those positions and see what sort of depth we’ve got there. Then we’ve got a few players coming into the squad who have been on the fringes or who have pushed their way into selection so it will be interesting to see how they go,” he adds.

“I think there’s also a challenge to the established players in the group, we’ve got some players who have been playing international football for a long time and I think the biggest challenge for them is to make a statement and say ‘I want to continue in this team and this is what we need to do going forward’.”

The China tour is the first time the Ferns will be in action since the World Cup, during which New Zealand were defeated by the Netherlands, Canada and Cameroon.

All three other teams competing in Chongching City are ranked more highly than New Zealand so this window proves Sermanni and his players with another opportunity to test themselves against world-class opposition. Their result in the opening game against China will determine who they meet in the second as the four-team invitational tournament goes straight to a final and third place play-off scenario.

“They’ll give us a mix of different styles which is really helpful,” Sermanni says of the opposition.

“China are re-emerging again after the level they came from to having some years in the wilderness, they’re re-building so it will be interesting to see what they’ve done and how they’ve progressed since the World Cup. And we played Canada in the World Cup so it would be good to come up against them again and hopefully put on a better performance than we did in France. Then obviously Brazil give you a huge challenge if we end up playing them. So, regardless of who we play in that second game, these games are really valuable for us.”

Preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games is now the main focus and Sermanni will devote most of his attention to evaluating the talent he has at his disposal as Tokyo begins to draw near.

“At this particular juncture, the results aren’t the be-all and end-all,” he says.

“What I’m looking for mainly is to see where individual players are at and which players are going to step up, impress me and really put a case forward for retaining their place in the squad or the starting eleven.”

Football Ferns squad for China tour (club, caps/goals)

Goalkeepers
Lily Alfeld (Northern Lights, 0/0)
Victoria Esson (Avaldsnes IL, Norway, 3/0)
Erin Nayler (Girondins Bordeaux, France, 67/0)

Defenders
CJ Bott (Vittsjo GIK, Sweden, 19/1)
Claudia Bunge (Northern Lights, 0/0)
Sarah Morton (Auckland Football, 6/1)
Ria Percival (Tottenham Hotspur, England, 145/14)
Ali Riley (FC Bayern Munich, Germany, 129/1)
Steph Skilton (Auckland Football, 9/0)
Rebekah Stott (Avaldsnes IL, Norway, 76/4)
Nicole Stratford (USV Jena, Germany, 0/0)

Midfielders
Hannah Blake (University of Michigan, USA, 1/0)
Katie Bowen (Utah Royals, USA, 65/3)
Olivia Chance (Bristol City, England, 17/0)
Betsy Hassett (KR Reykjavik, Iceland, 116/13)
Annalie Longo (Melbourne Victory, Australia, 119/15)
Jana Radosavljevic (BV Cloppenburg, Germany, 0/0)
Paige Satchell (SC Sand, Germany, 15/1)

Forwards
Sarah Gregorius (Unattached, 97/34)
Katie Rood (Lewes FC, England, 10/5)
Rosie White (Reign FC, USA, 105/24)
Hannah Wilkinson (Sporting CP, Portugal, 92/25)

Match Details

Brazil vs Canada
Thursday 7 November, 4pm (9pm NZT) 

New Zealand vs China
Thursday 7 November, 7.35pm (Friday 8 November, 12.35am NZT)

Third place play-off
Sunday 10 November, 4pm (9pm NZT)

Final
Sunday 10 November, 7.35pm (Monday 11 November, 12.35am NZT)

Article added: Friday 01 November 2019