FIFA Women’s World Cup: Rosie White ‘curious to see if rule will change’ after VAR goal call

Rosie White is a former Football Ferns striker serving as a Sky Sport commentator and Stuff columnist during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup

ANALYSIS: The VAR decision that cost the Football Ferns a goal against the Philippines at the FIFA Women’s World Cup was technically correct, but I’m curious to see if there will be any changes to this rule in future.

I can understand the Ferns’ frustration at seeing the goal by Jacqui Hand ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside call on Hannah Wilkinson in the Ferns’ 1-0 defeat. It looked like Hannah’s face was offside and the rest of her body was onside.

It’s difficult to judge an offside when a player is leaning over and running in behind, but if an arm or a face is in front of the defender is that really an advantage? Personally, I think it should be where your feet are. It’s a tough pill to swallow when it’s a face or hand that can be offside because that’s not giving you any advantage at all.

It is disappointing when you’re on the wrong side of a VAR review, but when you’re on the other side of it, it’s your best friend. You can’t really argue with the decision, but at the same time, such a close margin is so frustrating for everybody, including the Ferns and the fans.

The problem with having so precise technology is you have to draw the line somewhere, and it has to be a black and white decision. I’m sure FIFA will be reviewing the technology later to try and make it as fair as possible.

The VAR outcome was super-frustrating because Hannah was so patient in the lead-up to the goal and did a good job of drawing back and picking out Jacqui. It seemed all the pieces were coming together and to have the goal that would have tied the game ruled out was unfortunate.

The Ferns will be frustrated with their performance after a lot of opportunities to score. The Philippines’ game-plan was clear: they had two banks of four players set up defensively and just looked to exploit the Ferns on the counter attack and at set pieces. Alen Stajcic, their Australian coach, is familiar with the way New Zealand play, and the Filipinas managed to execute their game plan very well.

The Ferns won’t be happy at the way they conceded the goal from Sarina Bolden’s header. Any time you have three defenders in the box against one attacker, you don’t want the striker getting the better of you. It was a really close angle for keeper Vic Esson, the ball came at her really fast and she just didn’t have enough time to react. But all those defenders who were in the box and Vic will be reviewing that goal and trying to figure out how they could have done a better job there.

Despite the defeat there were still some positive signs from the Ferns. Jacqui Hand looked really confident on the ball, taking players on and getting into the box, and the halftime introduction of Annalie Longo and Liv Chance provided an attacking boost. Annalie’s creativity and willingness to get on the ball made a big difference. That was a game designed for a player like her. She has great vision and there was space in midfield. From the moment she came on, she changed the dynamic and was a standout for me.

Coach Jitka Klimková had to make those substitutions to try and break down the Philippines. I don’t think the replacement of Indiah-Paige Riley and Betsy Hassett was due to any lack of performance, there was just a glaring need to make a change. Both Annalie and Liv are super-creative players, they have both had injuries which might be a reason why they did not start. I think it was more a case of the Ferns needing to offer something different going forward and try and be more creative.

Despite the loss last night, Group A is still wide open and absolutely everything is on the line in the Ferns’ last game against Switzerland in Dunedin on Sunday. That is a huge positive to take away: the Ferns are still in control of their destiny. If they take three points they could still end up top of the group. They will try to switch mentalities, to learn from the Philippines setback and put everything they have into their final pool game.

The Swiss will offer different challenges to the Philippines. The game will be similar in structure to the opener against Norway. Changing the formation back to the 4-4 2 we saw against Norway could be a good option, potentially, but Annalie Longo was the game-changer on Tuesday and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her in the starting 11 against the Swiss. It’s good that Jitka has got something to think about and has some good options in Annalie and Liv.

Grace Jale also made a good impact against the Philippines and was only denied a goal by a world-class save. She’s a dangerous player, with a lot of height and a great first touch. I’m happy that she got her opportunity and would like to see more of her going forward.

Switzerland are reasonably familiar to the Ferns, they are very organised and offer some strong attacking threats with Ramona Bachmann their standout player, but I think the Ferns will have a good idea of how to nullify them.

Norway are struggling, they’re yet to score a goal after a loss to the Ferns and a draw with Switzerland. They made a significant amount of changes against the Swiss which indicates their coach isn’t stoked at the way they are playing. When you have a star-studded team with a lot of world-class players it can be hard to find cohesiveness. They will be disappointed with their first two results, but they are still in the running, like all the teams in Group A, which could very well come down to goal difference.

It’s been exciting watching all the group games and it’s been hard to predict some outcomes. There have been some surprises, including the French tying their first game against Jamaica and the United States didn’t absolutely dominate against Vietnam. The Germans were very dominant and the Japanese and Brazilians are also looking really good. I’m most impressed by the Germans so far, they seem organised and dangerous.

I enjoyed another new experience for the Football Ferns-Philippines game. After making my debut as a Sky Sport sideline reporter in the Norway match, I was in the Sky commentary box alongside match caller Jason Pine on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun watching the game from a different perspective, Piney was great, I’m sure he carried the team! But while it was awesome it was also pretty stressful. I’m not going to lie, I had my watch telling me to calm down every five minutes!

Rosie White won 111 international caps and scored 24 goals for the Football Ferns from 2009 to 2021 and played professionally in England and the United States. She is part of Sky’s FIFA Women’s World Cup broadcasting team and will write regular columns for Stuff throughout the tournament.