End Of An Olympic Odyssey

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Some Final Thoughts

by Jeremy Ruane

As I'm typing this, I'm eastward bound over the Tasman Sea, and the gorgeous Cameron Diaz is the star turn on the in-flight movie as the final leg of what has been a longer than anticipated trip home draws to a close.

Why so? Our flight from Shanghai was some three hours late in departing, thanks to a lovely electrical storm which provided its own entertainment, in the form of lighting up the airfield at Shanghai Pudong at regular intervals. Only one flight took the risk of taking off during its wrath, and nothing more was heard from it after its departure - one assumes that it made its destination intact.

It meant a rather frustrating time for those on board our aircraft, and doubtless the situation was repeated on others also. Some folk had to rearrange connecting flights, but thankfully that wasn't the case for me - this delay just ate up the time I'd have spent wandering around the shops in the transit lounge at Kingsford Smith (the name by which Sydney Airport is properly known).

Instead, it provided time to reflect on my experiences at my first Olympics, which wouldn't have come about without the presence in China of the Football Ferns. Needless to say, I'm proud beyond words of the girls' efforts, particularly the manner in which they went about shutting up the nay-sayers back home, who questioned their sheer presence at the Games of the 29th Olympiad.

Even though they should perhaps have won it from the position they were in, that 2-2 draw with Japan was nonetheless a massive result for this squad, in terms of their overall development - any lingering doubts they could compete among the top echelon of the women's game were cast aside forever with that result.

And following it up with a hugely impressive display against the Norwegians, which saw the Kiwis boss their European rivals on all fronts but the one which matters most - the scoreboard - had all among the women's footballing fraternity in China sitting up and taking notice.

They were witnessing at first hand the emergence of a new contender among the game's great and good, and they were suitably impressed, I can assure you, the USA result notwithstanding.

It would have been interesting to see what would have transpired had the Football Ferns not conceded that opening goal in Olympic record time against the reigning Olympic Women's Football champions. As it was, the Americans were mightily impressed with the resolve their young opponents showed in the face of adversity, despite the outcome.

John Herdman's charges have made terrific strides in just eleven months. Last September, at the Women's World Cup Finals, simply recording competitive scorelines was an achievement in itself. Eleven months on, they came within a win of making the quarter-finals - that is a measure of their progress.

Suffice to say, when it comes to future FIFA tournaments in which my favourite team outside Anfield is involved, my leave and travel arrangements will have to cover the entire event, not just the first round. (Providing I can get a willing sponsor, of course - a bank loan was necessary to make this trip possible, and those can't continue to be taken out ad infinitum).

There was one aspect of the competition which disappointed me, specifically the fact that all the other women's matches were taking place at the same time. I'd love to have attended some of the games from the other groups, as I did at last year's FIFA Women's World Cup Finals, and would certainly have done so had they not been scheduled at the same time as Football Ferns fixtures.

Events such as these are few and far between, in terms of allowing folk from countries as remote as our own to see the different styles and approaches to the game employed by the likes of Germany, Brazil and North Korea.

There is always something to be learned, but the way the Olympic Games Football Tournaments are structured, those opportunities are less common that at a Finals event at which FIFA is the sole controlling body - they share the governance of the Games with the International Olympic Committee, of course.

One of the thousands of volunteers who were the unsung heroes and heroines of China's Olympic Games, the gorgeous Guomin Juan

That regret applies just as much to the men's event as to the women's competition, although because of my financial circumstances with this trip, I did get to see action from a group other than that involving the OlyWhites, which emphasised all the more the importance of having the chance to see other styles of play.

The contrasting styles of Cameroon and the Korea Republic saw a cracking encounter unfold, and after a slow start, the Koreans' clash with Honduras was similarly memorable. But of those I saw, the best men's teams on show, without question, were Italy and Brazil, both of whom I've praised highly in earlier stories.

As for the OlyWhites, I was quietly confident they would progress to the quarter-finals going into the tournament, and said as much in a pre-Olympics column on this site. So their failure to do so is disappointing, from my perspective - my expectations of them were greater than were delivered.

Like the Football Ferns, they perhaps should have won their first match against China, a late goal denying them victory. I've seen no footage of this game while on my travels, but if some of the decisions I witnessed in other matches were anything to go by, I suspect one of Steven Old's yellow cards could be deemed to be on the harsh side.

Daniel Ellensohn's dismissal in the Belgium encounter certainly was - a yellow card offence at most. But when one adds Jeremy Brockie's suspension from that game to the mix … why are disciplinary issues such a factor in the men's game?

I cite the case of Hayley Moorwood as proof that they shouldn't be. The Football Ferns captain picked up a booking after just half-an-hour of engine room toil in the Japan encounter, but channelled her aggression for the greater good throughout the rest of that match and the team's remaining games to ensure that her behaviour wouldn't be a factor in / excuse for New Zealand's performances.

The chaps could learn a heck of a lot from the example set by one of this country's most exciting players and impressive leaders on and off the park.

The OlyWhites' overall style of play didn't impress me, or others in the media area. I earlier cited Italy and Brazil as the best teams I saw at this tournament. Their controlled play and measured passing contrasted starkly with the less cerebrally challenging football employed by our chaps.

One cuts one's cloth to fit, of course, but this tournament only served to highlight, once again, the lack of technical quality in our game. The girls certainly earned far more plaudits than the boys from FIFA's Technical Study Groups, that's for sure, a factor which suggests that the focus in men's football needs to be aimed more towards technical development at a young age, i.e. establishing good habits early.

In terms of the senior side of the game in New Zealand, perhaps there are grounds for NZ Football to channel even more resources towards the women's game, given that area of the code is where we are making most progress on all fronts - tactically, technically, competitively and developmentally.

It would be inappropriate to conclude my on-site Olympics coverage without praising the efforts of the numerous volunteers at the various venues. From the airport teams, who are on the go from 7am to 10pm, through to the hotel support teams and those who provide assistance to the media at the matches, especially the gorgeous Guomin and her colleagues in Qinhuangdao.

These guys and gals simply could not do enough to help you, and they've set a very high standard for the New Zealand volunteers to aspire to come the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in October and November.

You can expect comprehensive coverage on this site of an event which I'm very much looking forward to, and which will cap off a twenty-first year of personal involvement with New Zealand women's football already made memorable by the achievements of the Football Ferns at their maiden Olympic Women's Football Tournament.

And to think some didn't even consider them worthy of attending …

2008