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New Zealand upset Norway in Women’s World Cup opener
AUCKLAND, (Reuters) – Hannah Wilkinson’s second-half goal gave New Zealand a shock 1-0 win over former champions Norway at Eden Park yesterday as the co-hosts kicked off the Women’s World Cup in style by claiming their first ever victory at the global soccer showpiece.
The Football Ferns had failed to win a game at their five previous World Cup appearances but Wilkinson fired home from close range from Jacqui Hand’s pinpoint cross in the 48th minute to give them a lead they would not relinquish.
“I am so, so proud,” said New Zealand co-captain Ali Riley. “We have been fighting for this for so long.”
Norway, champions in 1995, were disappointing and disjointed and rarely looked as if they would get back on level terms. Their best chance came from Tuva Hansen’s right-footed effort, which ricocheted back off the crossbar in the 81st minute.
New Zealand’s Ria Percival had the chance to put the game out of reach in the 90th minute but her penalty hit the crossbar, setting up a nervy finish.
New Zealand’s Hannah Wilkinson in action with Norway’s Mathilde Harviken. (REUTERS/David Rowland)
Norway threw players forward in search of an equaliser but the stout Ferns’ defence held firm.
“This is not what we had anticipated,” said Norway captain Maren Mjelde. “We woke up the last 25 minutes but it was too late.”
The crowd of 42,137 – a record for a football match in New Zealand – let out a deafening roar as the match came to an end, with Ferns coach Jitka Klimkova burying her face in her hands in joy as her players celebrated.
“There were a lot of doubters because of the (recent) results we had but we believed – we believed in ourselves this entire game,” said Riley.
“We showed it and we played with confidence. The finish, this is what dreams are made of.”
‘SO PROUD’
The win put New Zealand on track toward their goal of getting out of the group stage of the tournament. They face debutants the Philippines on Tuesday in a match that had widely been seen as their best chance of winning in Group A.
The evening kicked off with a dazzling opening ceremony that featured pyrotechnics and honoured the region’s Indigenous heritage, though hours earlier a shooting in Auckland left three dead.
“We wanted to bring something positive tonight and we thought of the victims and the first responders and they made us so proud and we just wanted to just help bring something amazing today,” said Riley.
Norway have five days to regroup before they face Switzerland in their second group-stage match in Hamilton and striker Ada Hegerberg told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK they had to get their attack going.
New Zealand players huddle before the start of the second half. (REUTERS/David Rowland)
“We weren’t there,” she said of their disappointing performance.
“We had some decent chances that we could have scored on … but really we did not manage to create an established attack that could put pressure on them, which we could have done.”
Co-hosts Australia also opened their World Cup campaign on Thursday in Sydney against Ireland, though they are without captain Sam Kerr, who was ruled out of two games after picking up a calf injury in training a day earlier.
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