‘Not good enough’: Football Ferns’ 5-0 loss to Portugal their worst defeat in 12 years

There was no hiding from it for Football Ferns coach Jitka Klimková.

After her side’s 5-0 loss to Portugal at Waikato Stadium on Friday night, she had no choice but to admit the obvious.

“Our plan was different.

“We wanted to have a win and we lost 5-0.

“We know that we should be doing a better job. We should be possessing better. We should be defending better.

“Today it was not good enough and we deserved to lose.”

Friday’s scoreline was not completely foreign to the Ferns.

They lost 5-0 to the United States last month and last February, as well as in 2019 and 2017. In between, they went down 6-1 to them at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

But there’s a world of difference between the world No 1 US, the winners of the last two World Cups, and world No 22 Portugal, who will return to Waikato Stadium on Wednesday to try to qualify for a World Cup for the first time.

The last team other than the US to beat the Ferns by five goals?

Mexico way back in 2011 at the Cyprus Cup – though if you want a good omen, that defeat came four months before the Ferns scored two late goals to draw with Mexico and secure their first World Cup point.

Before that, there was a 6-0 loss to China in 2009.

Then there were four defeats by five and six goals in 2007, when the Ferns programme had just been reset and the team was being rebuilt around a group of teenagers, including current captain Ali Riley.

All of which is to say Friday night’s defeat was as bad as they come.

New Zealand is co-hosting the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup with Australia in July and August, making this the worst possible time for the Ferns to suffer their worst defeat in 12 years.

The fact that Klimková and Riley sat down in their pre-match press conference on Thursday and stated their plan so playfully only made it sting even more.

“We. Are. Going. To. Beat. Portugal,” was what they said, alternating words and being far too cute for a team with three wins in 18 matches under their current coach.

That ledger now reads three wins from 19 and there was no levity to be found out the back of Waikato Stadium on Friday.

The decision to hand Kate Taylor her first Ferns start in the middle of a back three backfired, as she gave Jéssica Silva the freedom to leap unchallenged and score Portugal’s first goal, then fouled her to give away the penalty that became their second.

Klimková said the Wellington Phoenix youngster had shone in training to earn her place, but one of her more senior partners, Katie Bowen or Claudia Bunge, surely should have been placed at the heart of defence as the Ferns switched to a new playing system.

The change to a back three had merit, and there were several moments in the first half where it was easy to see the benefits – namely that wingbacks Ali Riley and CJ Bott had more licence to get forward and that key playmaker Olivia Chance was able to find more pockets of space with the field stretched.

But after going behind 2-0 just before the break, the Ferns faded badly in the second half. The positives dried up and the negatives puled up as Portugal added three more goals, giving Bowen and Bunge’s halftime replacement, Meikayla Moore, plenty to reflect upon themselves.

Klimková said that what her side really needed to improve was their defending: “We have to put pressure on the ball much quicker. We can’t give the opposition time like how we gave Portugal today”.

Chance was sat beside her and was just as accountable: “Individually we weren’t good enough and we all know that. We all know that as players.

“We wanted to put on a performance. We care so much about this World Cup in five months and today wasn’t good enough.”

The world No 22 Ferns now have two matches against No 29 Argentina, on Monday back at Waikato Stadium and Thursday at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, where they simply have to be better.