New Zealand pulled off a major upset to kickstart their World Cup campaign as hosts and fans of the team celebrated the match in style on Thursday, July 20. The Football Ferns were vibing to music on the team bus as they pulled away from the stadium after New Zealand's first-ever Women's World Cup victory.
The song was Outkast's 'The Way You Move,' completely apt given that the co-host for this edition of the competition started off with an impressive 1-0 victory over Group A favourites Norway. In doing so, the side are now in a good position to advance to the knockout stage — a massive achievement for a team who had previously never won a match at the World Cup before Thursday night.
It was a big victory for women's soccer in a country mostly known for their love of rugby. More than 42,000 fans were at the game, making it the biggest crowd ever for a men's or women's soccer match in New Zealand.
“To see the way we performed and fought, the resilience of this team, how gritty the effort, the sprinting. Everything. That is the kind of performance we wanted to show. That's who we are,” captain Ali Riley said. “And that is how we can inspire young girls. That is how we can make our nation proud and hopefully change the sporting culture in this country.”
New Zealand will now tune themselves to their match on Tuesday against rookies the Philippines in Wellington, who lost to Switzerland 2-0 in their opening game. Meanwhile, Norway play Switzerland in Hamilton.
“This is just the beginning,” coach Jitka Klimkova said. “If we will have this crowd behind us every time we step up on the field, that's what we need, really that push from them.”
Such was their victory that even New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visited the team locker room to congratulate the players. “I think with the performance, we deserved it,” said Riley, who plays professionally for Angel City in Los Angeles. “I know we came into this as underdogs. I know there was a lot of doubt, a lot of articles being written saying how many times we haven't won a game. But we believed in ourselves the whole time.”
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