Travel Review 2

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Travel Review 2

Second Helpings

by Jeremy Ruane

A case of 'if only'!

That was the over-riding feeling following our second match in Edmonton, where a scoreless draw with Canada could very easily have ended up with the Football Ferns claiming all three points at the expense of the host nation.

Normally I'd put the house on Amber delivering when a goalscoring opportunity is there for the taking. She is usually reliability personified in front of goal, particularly from twelve yards, but this was a rare occasion when she didn't come up with the goods, something which happens to the very best finishers in the game at any time.

As she admitted afterwards, the pressure of the moment got to her. I really felt for Amber that day, and still do as I type, having seen her develop from a strapping young goalscoring machine into one of the best strikers this country has ever seen.

Beneath her ultra-shy persona, she's a top lass, a real gem of a lady whom I love to bits and wouldn't hesitate to entrust with that responsibility again the next time the chance comes our way.

At the same time, we could have ended up with our fate sealed after just two matches - Erin had a whale of a game against the host nation, and richly deserved her FIFA Player of the Match award.

Come the final whistle, in front of the biggest crowd of the tournament to date, and having seen China deservedly down Holland immediately prior, this was a much-needed point which kept alive our hopes of progressing to the next round.

Elsewhere that day, Germany and Norway drew 1-1 in Ottawa, while how Ivory Coast failed to at least draw with Thailand only they will know. The woodwork took a heck of a beating in that game, while you had to feel for the Ivorian lass who missed an open goal in the final minute, which would have earned her team a 3-3 draw - her reaction was priceless!

It was back to Winnipeg next day for more "Group of Death" action, and the first airing of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi" from the Matildas' travelling army, as their heroines waltzed past Nigeria to leave their destiny well within their grasp, particularly with the USA and Sweden producing a classic 0-0 draw, one in which Meghan Klingenberg, the smallest player on the park, leapt half her height again to deny the Swedes all three points late on.

Meanwhile, in Vancouver, reigning world champions Japan continued to do just enough to advance to the next round, without going goal-crazy at Cameroon's expense. Switzerland, meanwhile, did go for broke, racking up the second double-figure dousing of these Finals, with their 10-1 eclipsing of Ecuador featuring a Fabienne Humm hat-trick in record-breaking time - five minutes.

This was the first of five days I would spend in Winnipeg, bringing to an end the up to now daily cycle of airport - hotel - match - hotel - airport. As I discovered that Saturday morning, there's only so long you can maintain that sort of schedule before it catches up with you - cue over twelve hours' rock-solid sleep!

I slept for so long that when I woke up, France and Columbia were already into the second half of their clash at Moncton, and I watched in disbelief as the South Americans - to this point the only team other than hosts Brazil to have qualified for Rio 2016 - managed to hold out the French to record the shock result of the tournament so far.

The rest of the day was spent in front of the TV, with the other three matches all shown live. England scored a vital win over Mexico to take advantage of France's stumble and set up a tantalising final round of action in Group F.

Meanwhile, in Group E, Brazil kept the Spanish at bay to advance to the next round on a day the fantastic spirit of the Costa Ricans again shone through in their rousing - and richly deserved - 2-2 draw with the Koreans, a result which set up a thrilling final day in this group.

Sunday was a day set aside to explore Winnipeg, the main city in the Canadian Prairies area, one which is also the closest location to the geographic centre of North America. After attending Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral - the young female cantor was stunning; I'd love to see and hear her performing at SJV or St. Pat's one day - I ended up in an area of town called The Forks.

No, the knives weren't out - aren't you glad I'm not spoon-feeding you these one-liners? (Groan!!) - but it is so-called because it's where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet. A thirty-minute river cruise was called for, and duly taken.

Winnipeg itself is an interesting place, but one I found a bit dusty - it could do with a decent clean-up, to be honest, a bit like that which Liverpool enjoyed after being named as Europe's Capital of Culture in 2008. The city of my roots scrubbed up really well for that occasion, and Winnipeg would certainly benefit from similar treatment.

One thing which I will always associate with Winnipeg is pick-up trucks. The Canadians LOVE their pick-up trucks, make no mistake. Be it Chevrolet, Ford or RAM, a Canadian brand, you will find at least one of these monsters in every carpark, and one at just about every intersection. And I have the impression that maximum clearance between wheel arch and wheel is standard - the old "my pick-up's bigger than yours" idea springs to mind!

Among the Kiwis who've been travelling round here are three of the "91ers", Wendi Henderson, Maureen Jacobson and Terry McCahill, who all played in the SWANZ matches at the inaugural Women's World Cup Finals in China in November that year.

Bria Sargent is among their party, and there is a classic picture on Facebook of Bria standing next to one of these monster utes in a carpark. She's no midget, but at full height, she only comes up to the top of the pick-up tray - the cab itself is literally head and shoulders above her! Daft!

One other memory I have of Winnipeg is a startling one. Walking around The Forks area, a young lass walked past me with her travelling partner. Nothing out of the ordinary there, save for the fact said lass was stripped to the hips, with only some suitably placed coloured tape covering her nipples …

The main reason for staying on in Winnipeg, of course, was the cherubs' final group game against China on Monday, the second match of a double-header which Germany kicked off by easily accounting for Thailand, 4-0.

The abiding memory I have of that match isn't something which happened on the park, but prior to kick-off. This was the biggest game in Thailand's history, and before the match, German gaffer Silvia Neid showed what a class act she is.

It's usual practice for the opposing coaches to shake hands pre-match, of course, but the long-serving Neid continued on until she had shaken the hand of every single member of the Thailand party watching the match from the bench. Not something she had to do by any means, but I guarantee every one of those Thai squad members headed home from Canada boasting a special memory of one of the finest coaches in the history of women's football.

And so to the match of the day, and again, a case of what might have been. This time round, we were diddled, no question. 'Twas never a penalty in a million years, yet it's one which has ultimately cost us at least $US125,000 in tournament prizemoney, and a yet-to-be-determined amount, in terms of reduced funding, from High Performance Sport NZ.

Therein lies the rub. Our girls didn't under-perform - far from it. They gave their all and then some in all three matches at Canada 2015, in two of which our players were recognised by FIFA's Technical Study Group as Player of the Match, "Flea" being the recipient of that honour against China.

So there is no way on earth HPSNZ can say their investment in the Football Ferns hasn't been worthwhile. The fact our team didn't realise their tournament objectives ultimately came down to four instances of human error, three of which were made by match officials - you can hardly blame our girls for that!

Had those three errors not occurred, and the correct decisions been made, we'd have had two further penalties awarded to us - for fouls on Amber and Wilky - while the penalty from which China benefited would never have been.

The net outcome of all these would have seen the Football Ferns topping their group. And had Amber scored that penalty against Canada, we'd have finished either first or second, based on the drawing of lots.

Former LFC boss Rafa Benitez always referred to "small details" during his time in charge at Anfield, and the above is an example of how we have been impacted by such small details on this occasion.

The line between progressing to the next round and heading home from this group couldn't have been finer, but unfortunately, Tony Readings and his charges found themselves on the wrong side of it, and heading for the airport and home with a nineteenth-ranked finish at a time when a few other teams at this tournament, which are nowhere near as good as our girls, were progressing to the next round thanks largely to having been drawn in easier groups.

Talking of Tony, and in light of the aforementioned actions of Silvia Neid, the matter of a certain post-match hand-shaking opportunity with China's coach, Hao Wei, springs to mind. The first I was aware it hadn't taken place was during the post-match media conference, when one of the Chinese media asked the question of the gaffer.

Having witnessed the antics of Hao Wei during the match, and his behaviour upon being sent from the bench - he milked it for all he was worth, I can perfectly understand Tony's principled stand on the issue, and fully appreciate why he did what he didn't do. For mine, it's not even comment-worthy.

Obviously it's been an issue for some mainstream media folk back home, however, but for mine, their absence from this tournament hardly entitles them to pass any comment from within their ivory towers.

It hasn't gone unnoticed around these parts that I'm the only media presence from New Zealand at these Finals. As Keith Garland would say in his subtle Scouse way, "Swaller yer 'eads!"

The other matches on that fateful Monday saw Norway overcome Ivory Coast - they didn't have

Amber Hearn - top lass!

photo courtesy OFC

Front gate greetings from "Gregors" at Winnipeg Stadium

"Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!"

The unusual profile of Winnipeg's Human Rights Commission building

Air Canada - my prime means of transport around this lovely nation

The Rideau Falls

The main Parliament building in Ottawa

Inside Notre Dame Basilica

The "91ers" line-up v. China

A couple of Kiwis on big match duty

Germany's Silvia Neid - class act

France singing "La Marseillaise"

"Flea" and "Mouse" with the ASB National Women's League trophy

Carli Lloyd in Algarve Cup action

Tony Readings announcing the squad

On location at the Niagara Falls

A national treasure performing live!

it all their own way, mind - while Canada and Holland drew in front of a decent-sized crowd far more befitting of the Montreal venue, the late Dutch leveller not greatly impacting on our cause.

My final day in Winnipeg, which boasts "Gregors"' iconic goal celebration from Germany 2011 greeting all-comers at the main gate, allowed me to see the world champions in action live for the first time at Canada 2015. Japan play some lovely football, make no mistake, and Ecuador were chasing shadows at times, but how I wish Nadeshiko would give Mana Iwabuchi her head.

The star turn at NZ08 is simply phenomenal - such an outstanding talent. When she did come on, with ten minutes to play, she transformed the match. Homare Sawa's been a great player for Japan, no question, but I'm convinced her successor will prove to be an even better proposition.

At the same time this match was taking place, Cameroon came from behind to stun Switzerland and finish second, while the final "Group of Death" matches saw the USA return to winning ways to oust Nigeria as the Matildas held Sweden to a draw to finish second in Group D.

The next stop on this hugely enjoyable experience was Ottawa, where a six-night stay was scheduled to take in the final first round matches here, plus two of the fixtures in the next round. And, of course, some sightseeing and TV football-watching on those days when there was no action scheduled at Lansdowne Stadium.

France. Wow! Was this a performance or what! Mexico should be glad it was only five, because they were on the receiving end of a footballing lesson here, one which Louisa Necib, arguably the finest member of the French squad, watched from the bench - one dreads to think of the added mayhem her presence would have caused the Mexicans, because she is class with a capital C!

While that match was taking place below me, England were dealing to Columbia to advance to the last sixteen as the second-placed team in their group, a position which Korea Republic and Spain were both eager to realise in the final match in Group E.

With Brazil expected to overcome Costa Rica - they did, but only by virtue of a late goal - this game in Ottawa effectively became a World Cup Final in itself. And you couldn't have written a better script!

In the end, it literally came down to the very last kick of the game. Had Spain scored from the free-kick, they would have drawn 2-2 and sent the Koreans home. Miss, and the Asian side would win 2-1. Bye bye Spain.

Bill Shankly's famous quote, "Football's not a matter of life and death. I can assure you, it's much more important than that!", sums up this situation brilliantly. Talk about pressure! Sonia Bermudez will never take a kick like this again in her life - and she hit the crossbar! Two inches lower …

I wonder how High Performance Sport NZ would treat the Football Ferns' funding if our progress hinged on a margin as narrow as this … and you could argue that it did, to some extent.

June 18 was a busy one at numerous airports around Canada. They called it "Moving Day", because sixteen teams at the Finals would be moving around the country to their next destination, with the balance bound for home.

My plans that day involved an open-top hop-on, hop-off bus tour of the key tourist spots in and around Ottawa - a lovely city which sits right on the edge of two of Canada's provinces, Ontario and Quebec. Indeed, on each of the three bridges which cross the Ottawa River, you can stand with a foot in each province!

One of the hidden treasures of Ottawa is the Rideau Falls, across from which three rivers - the Ottawa, the Rideau and the Gatineau - meet. And on a day where the temperature cleared 26C before midday, another quiet spot I found afforded me the chance to peel off my shirt (Calm down, girls!) and indulge in a spot of sunbathing!

Not for long, mind - with my sensitive skin, anything over half-an-hour and I start to blister, never mind redden! Besides, when the sun initially caught a glimpse of me, it promptly scuttled away behind the nearest cloud in fright!!

Back to the sightseeing - the sights worth seeing, that is! There are numerous buildings to attract your attention in the nation's capital, with Canada's Parliamentary home among them. The pick of them all, however, has to be where I first attended Mass here in Canada, the Notre Dame Basilica.

The architecture, artistry and stained glass windows within its walls are truly stunning, something which the England squad expressed in numerous tweets they posted after arriving in the city and doing the sight-seeing thing.

While they were doing that, I was in an area of the world which all should visit at some stage in their lives. The Niagara Falls are simply stunning. It is hard to comprehend 600,000 gallons of water per second cascading over the Horseshoe Falls, until you see it happening before your eyes … special. Very special.

Back to the action, with the plum tie of Germany and Sweden the first of my knockout round fixtures. No contest - the Germans were superb, Simone Laudehr in particular. An absolute must in my Team of the Tournament, which is now beginning to take shape in my mind.

I got home from the ground in time to see China edge Cameroon, a match in which the Football Ferns could well have been playing. Make no mistake, our girls were good enough to reach at least the last eight here in Canada, but the overall quality of refereeing here has been disappointing.

Indeed, I can think of only three referees who have consistently performed above the expected standards here, namely Germany's Bibiana Steinhaus, Japan's Sachiko Yamagishi and, to my surprise and delight, NZ's Anna-Marie Keighley.

As regular readers of my reports will be well aware, I have had reason to be critical of her efforts in Lotto Northern Premier Women's League and ASB National Women's Knockout Cup fixtures over the last few years, particularly with regard to penalty episodes.

Credit where it's due on the biggest of occasions, though - both she and Sarah Walker, in her capacity as an assistant referee here in Canada, are having a tremendous tournament, and earning very favourable reviews via their efforts.

Indeed, it would not surprise me to see them involved in either the third place match or the final - that is a measure of their form, and the impression they've made to date.

Aside from attending Mass on Sunday, I spent the entire day ensconced in my hotel room watching women's football, followed by the dramatic final hour of the US Open golf - and there's another instance of success or failure being decided by mere inches, make no mistake.

As you'll appreciate, our West Island friends are going gaga after the Matildas stunned Brazil, but there's no bandwagon-jumping where this NZer's concerned - that would be the international equivalent of supporting ManUre, and we all know how many folk have jumped on that particular bandwagon over the years. Poor misguided buggers, the lot of them!

I digress. Another firecracker start from France saw off the South Koreans, and set up a quarter-final which will be worthy of the final itself - Germany v. France in Montreal will be a "do not miss" encounter, and one you'll be able to watch at 8am on Saturday on Sky in NZ. If you get a glimpse of the media tribune, you may well see the only NZ media presence here hard at work …

Canada squeaked past Switzerland in the last game of the day, and I have to say it, John Herdman's team is riding its luck. They are very one-dimensional in attack, and defensively suspect also. Goalkeeper Erin McLeod has kept them in these finals, while young defender Kadeisha Buchanan looks a sure-fire contender for the Young Player of the Tournament award.

I dread to think what Germany or France would do to Canada, should they clash, but suffice to say, if I was in charge of the half-time music for such an encounter, the Tina Turner & Eric Clapton duet "Your Friends Are Tearing Us Apart" would anchor the set!

So to my second knockout game in Ottawa, on my last day in this delightful city. Norway's clash with England was mind-numbingly sterile in the first half, and desperately needed the goals which brought it to life before the hour mark. The English substitutions changed the game, and Lucy Bronze's belter of a winner was pure gold for the tabloid headline writers.

A quick ten-minute trip back to the hotel - the transport system in Ottawa is really good, by the way - allowed me to watch the USA overcome ten-man Columbia, who used all three goalkeepers in unusual circumstances during the course of two games.

First-choice 'keeper Sandra Sepulveda was suspended, while her replacement, Catalina Perez, was sent off for taking down Alex Morgan. Third choice Stefany Castano was relieved to see Abby Wambach miss the resulting penalty, but mighty Miss Morgan made amends soon afterwards, prior to Carli Lloyd consigning her own World Cup penalty-taking demons to history with a deadly finish to clinch the win and FIFA's Player of the Match award.

I've an immense amount of time and respect for both Carli and Alex. Not only are they both terrific footballers and very down-to-earth people, they are tremendous ambassadors for the women's game. So I was delighted to see them both leading the goal celebrations as they maintained their respective scoring records at yet another FIFA Women's World Cup Finals. Class acts, both.

So on to Japan's clash with Holland in Vancouver, which is where my Air Canada Airbus is due to land within the hour as I type. They've provided very good service indeed so far, although I've had one experience which left me wondering why it's not possible to open up the hatch down to the cargo holds below and provide a welcome respite for those who loathe the sound of screaming children, especially when they're in the row immediately behind you … little baskets!

It's around this point of the trip where the fun and games really start for me, mixing Women's World Cup Finals matches with sightseeing experiences in three locations and a very special treat I've afforded myself - one of Canada's national treasures live in concert!

2015