New Zealand huddle together before their final group game against Switzerland. Photo credit: NZ Football via Twitter.
The Football Ferns and Switzerland have drawn the final group A game in Ōtepoti Dunedin tonight. Both sides played extremely well, but neither could put the ball in the back of the net. The result means that Switzerland, along with Norway qualify for the Round of 16, whilst New Zealand are eliminated.
The game started off pretty evenly between both sides, with some early ball for Switzerland. With this they were able to get the first shot away through Ramona Bachmann, but her shot was sent straight into a New Zealand defender and flew out for a sideline throw in. Ria Percival concedes the first corner for the home side, as pressure by the Swiss attackers forces her to clear behind her own line. This corner leads to another one as the corner cross hits Percival’s head and flies behind her own line.
Aotearoa New Zealand’s first attacking chance came through Olivia Chance who sent a beautiful through pass to Percival, who then gave a nice tap to Annalie Longo. Bachmann was able to clear for Switzerland, giving New Zealand their first corner of the match. Chance stepped up to take the corner, but the Swiss were able to clear. Rebekah Stott got the ball outside the box and tried to take a shot but it was fired straight into a Swiss player who cleared well.
Aotearoa gained a free kick straight in front of the goal and just outside the attacking box. Katie Bowen was tasked with taking the free kick but she sent it straight into the Switzerland wall.
The Kiwi’s were getting lots of balls forward and on multiple occasions were able to nearly get good crosses into the box, but the Swiss defence kept clearing the ball out.
Jacqui Hand had the first close shot of the day, as she hit a volley from a tricky angle and the ball just bounced off the woodwork and flied off the post. If the ball had gone in, then the result could have been much better for New Zealand.
New Zealand had another opportunity to try and capitalise from a corner, after Julia Stierli was forced to clear the ball over the line as she was being chased by Wilkinson. With this corner, they couldn’t quite put the ball in the back of the net and the Swiss tried to clear but Katie Bowen managed to keep the ball in and earn her country a foul just outside the box. Thalmann was able to get the ball from the free kick and cleared it well.
Just before halftime, Piubel took a shot from outside the box but was saved by Vic Esson and left the score 0-0 at the halftime break.
Starting the second half, Switzerland got a couple of early chances near their attacking box but couldn’t get the crosses to their players around the goal.
Switzerland definitely had the better start to the second half and Piubel showed this with a near one on one against Esson but luckily for the New Zealanders, Katie Bowen was able to steal the ball from Piubel and clear it away.
Esson nearly made a costly mistake as she came out of her box to try and get a kick that had been cleared down the field. She missed the ball, and it fell for Switzerland but they couldn’t get the shot away.
Crnogorčević and Piubel had a couple of chances to try and get the ball in the back of the net but the Kiwi defence was up for the attack.
Aotearoa finally were able to gain some chances later into the second half with a free kick and a couple of corners for them. None of these chances could be turned into goals and as the game got deeper, it wasn’t looking like anyone would score.
With only a few minutes of regulation time left, New Zealand earned a corner through Hand and all of the Kiwi’s were in the box, looking for the opening goal of the game. No New Zealander got their head to it, and the Swiss cleared.
As the time was ticking down, New Zealand earned a free kick. This was the last major chance of the game, and the kick was sent into the box. Esson got her head to it and sent it dead.
As the referee blew the final whistle, the New Zealand hearts sank as they had not been able to pick up the three points that was needed to pass Norway on the ladder.
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