New Zealand vs. Thailand - Friendly International Double Header - (06/04/2024 & 09/04/2024).
Photo highlights from the double header International friendly between New Zealand and Thailand which was played at Christchurch's Apollo Project's Stadium.
Three different Football Ferns got on the scoresheet as the Football Ferns cruised to their first win over an opponent from outside Oceania since last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup victory over Norway.
Hannah Wilkinson, Jacqui Hand and Katie Kitching all scored as the Ferns won 4-0 without conceding a shot with the latter scoring a brace.
Melbourne City striker Hannah Wilkinson opened the scoring in the 17th minute in front of 6031 fans, finishing emphatically into the bottom-left corner after a wonderful pass from Indiah-Paige Riley.
The Ferns were in total control from start to finish against a team ranked 19 places below them on the FIFA rankings (No 28 v No 47), however the ferns were not able to turn their dominance into a second goal until just after the hour mark when substitute Katie Kitching took the game away from Thailand with a brace and an assist for Jacqui Hand to finish from the edge of the box after excellent work from out wide before cutting the ball back for Hand to finish.
The Football Ferns will be excited by their first win outside Oceania in nine months and by the fact that they did turn their dominance into goals however it is likely they will have to play an entirely different type of game when they head to the Paris Olympics in July and face France, Canada and Colombia in group A.
New Zealand 0-0 Thailand - 09/04/2024
The Ferns were equally as dominant on Tuesday as they were when they won 4-0 on Saturday afternoon, but were incredibly wasteful where it mattered the most.
Arguably the biggest miss of the lot came in stoppage time, when a header from Gabi Rennie fell to fellow substitute Meikayla Moore at close range with only the goalkeeper to beat, only for the centre back to shoot wide in the dying seconds rather much to the dismay of coach Jitka Klimkova on the sideline.
Thailand did register a shot in this match unlike Saturday's encounter an early effort by Nualanong Muensri that was blocked but in truth they were not troubled throughout the encounter, with most of goalkeeper Tiffany Sornpao’s saves routine.
This result was almost entirely down to the Ferns’ lack of finishing in front of a crowd of 3503. This result was perhaps not a surprise however given that the four goals they scored in 90 minutes in their win three days earlier were just one fewer than they managed in 1440 minutes of action in 2023.
The Ferns’ best chance of the first half came on the half hour when Hannah Wilkinson closed down the Thailand keeper and her glancing touch on a goal kick allowed midfielder Malia Steinmetz to win the ball in a dangerous area only to send her volley just over the crossbar.
The second half was a repeat of the first with the Football Ferns having several opportunities to break the deadlock but a combination wasteful finishing and lack of composure in front of goal was the factor that stopped another Ferns victory with Hannah Wilkinson and Jacqui Hand having the best chances of the half until Mikayla Moore fired wide in the 96th minute to send Thailand fans with rapturous applause.
