BLOG 2 FROM ROSARIO
We have now been here a week and it is a day of our 1st World Cup game against Germany so everyone is excited to get underway. The other pool started yesterday with Korea beating China 2-1. This was the first upset of the tournament as China is ranked 3rd while Korea is 11th. In other matches England bet Spain 3-2 and Argie came out too strong for the South African winning 5-2. As expected there was a huge crowd which were very vocal!
We have had a busy week here with trainings and a couple of practice games against Spain which we drew 1-1 and we played China and unfortunately lost 1-0. Everyone is fit and well and cant wait to take on the Germans. We are a definite underdog, which is highlighted by the TAB, as the odds are 9 dollars for us to win the match.
We had the opening ceremony on Friday night, which was a spectacular event. They held it down at the Memorial, with thousands of fans turning up to watch the event. Security was at an all time high and many security guards walking from the bus into our seats escorted us. It was all outdoors so luckily was a great night. The fireworks at the end were a highlight as well as someone abseiling down the Memorial building.
We have had a free day during the week where we all went down to the river and had lunch which was great to get out and see a bit more of Rosario. Most then checked out the shops on the walk home.
We continue to see stray dogs everywhere and we have started a team competition with who ever can spot the most dogs as well as the various breeds of stray dogs.
Temperatures have been very up and down with most temperatures fairly cool, so I don’t think heat will be an issue for us. The stadium is looking great and they are expecting sell out crowds most days, especially when the Argies play.
Will keep you posted on our upcoming games. All of our games will be played on Sky Sport.
Cheers
Em J
Blog 1 from Rosario Argentina
We made it to Rosario, Argentina on Friday night after a long trip. Luckily for us we only had one long flight of 11 hours which in comparison to other trips is not too long. We took off from Auckland Friday afternoon via Santiago where we had a couple of hours before flying another two onto Buenos Aires. The next part of our journey was very interesting as we had to bus from Buenos Aires to Rosario. When we were greeted at the airport they were very welcoming and we even had our own 5 star bus which is our team NZ bus for the whole world Cup. The trip took 6 hours and we had to have a small stop along the way to for a flat tyre! We were not allowed out of the bus as we were in a very random area and as we soon realised security was pretty full on. We had police escorts on motorbikes the whole way. Finally we arrived in Rosario at the Plaza Real which is a very nice hotel in the city. Everyone was fairly shattered by now so ready to get some sleep. We were very fortunate with big rooms with most having two double beds per room, so there was no need for fighting over who was getting the double bed!
Since arriving we have had a few trainings and starting to now get over the jetlag. To start with it was tough getting into the time zone as we are 15 hours behind here. The stadium is 45 minutes out of the city and seems to be in the middle of nowhere with a dirt track to get to it and horses, and run down old shacks around it. However the turf is really nice and it is a huge stadium. It seems strange training in it with it so empty but as we have been told we can expect it to be packed most games, especially when the Argies play as they are passionate about hockey over here.
The people are great, makes it very entertaining at times as they do not speak a lot of English and our Spanish is not so great! Have been trying to get into the culture and bring out a few words such as Hola (Hello), Gracias (Thank-you) and Ciao or Adios (Goodbye). Will learn a few more for my next blog.
The city itself is nice although a few of us were quite surprised with how polluted it is, and the number of stray dogs over here is crazy! On the way to the turf we would probably count up to 50 stray dogs roaming the streets.
We played Korea in a practice game and drew 1-1. We play Spain tomorrow. Both teams are in the other pool so is a good chance to see where we are at and test out some of the things we have been working hard on. Trainings are going well and everyone is looking forward to the exciting tournament ahead. The World Cup starts on Sunday the 29th, but our pool gets under way the following day. We face Germany first up so will be doing a lot of scouting leading up to this game.
Will keep you posted again soon.
Cheers
Emily
Blog: Summary of Rabo and Champions Trophy
Before the Champions trophy tournament we had been invited to attend the Rabo Trophy which was a real honour as the teams competing were Argentina, China and Argentina. It was great for us as it was a chance to play the top 3 teams in the world which we would be facing at Champions Trophy.
We arrived in Holland and got quite a shock coming from the cold to the heat wave they had been getting over there. It took a few day to get over the jet lag and used to training in 20-30 degrees as opposed to 5 degrees as it had been at some of our 6am starts back in Auckland!! We were based in a small town called Hoevelaken which is near Utrecht. It was a very small town with not a lot happening. Very little shopping or things to do (maybe a good thing for all the shoppers in the team!!) All the matches however were played in small places around Holland.
We only had a few days to acclimatise and train before hitting the first match against Argentina. We also know going into a match against them that they play with a lot of skill and flair. We had done a bit of scouting on them and we knew we had to shut down there key player and one of the best players in the world 'Aymar'. It was a hard fought match with play going end to end. The end score was 2-1, but could have gone either way as we created quite a few opportunities in the first half that just didn't quite come off. They also put a lot of pressure on us in defence and had quite a few shots that luckily we managed to keep them to only 2 goals.
Next up we played China. China is always tough as they are so fast and fit and will keep fighting right til the end. They also have one of the best drag flickers in the world. So one of our goals was to minimise their penalty corners. It was another hard fought match with play going end to end with lots of counter attack opportunities from both sides. We manage to score off a penalty corner right on the whistle to equalise the match 4-4.
Next up was Holland who are number 1 in the world. We managed to keep them at 0-0 until half time but then they proved to be too strong in the second half and we went down 4-0.
Our last match of the tournament was the 3rd and 4th play off game against China. It was another close match that could have gone either way. Luckily we came out on top winning 3-2. Was great to finish with a strong performance and go into Champions Trophy with confidence.
It was now onto Champions which was held in Nottingham (3 hours North of London). We had a long ferry trip to get across (7 hours) plus a 2 hour bus trip. It was a lot cooler there, going from 30 degrees to 15 was a big change, but a lot nicer to play in! We stayed in a really nice hotel that was fairly close to the city. We were able to have a little look around at the local shops and a few went to the castle and oldest pub in the world.
We didn't have much spare time as we were back into the training and scouting opposition before the tournament started.
First game was against Holland. It was an exciting match that had some of the TAB betters worried (Our odds were not great!) as we were up 1-0 with 10 minutes to go. Unfortunately in the last 10 minutes they came back firing with 3 quick goals. Was a shame after playing so well for the rest of the match. Just showed why they are number 1 in the world and taught us a valuable lesson.
The next day we were up against China who came out determined not to lose, they ran hard and created a lot of attacks. We seemed a bit flat and couldn't match them for fitness as they seem to out run us and win the match 3-1.
After a much needed rest day (pool session, meetings, rest) we played Argentina who were very much in form after winning the Rabo Trophy by beating Holland 3-0. Was a game of 2 halves. We played well in the first half keeping the score 0-0 and creating enough opportunities. However we lost structure and started to run the ball and they came at us with a lot of counter attacks. We went down 3-0.
Germany was a team we have not played in awhile so we had to do a lot of scouting and look at the way they are playing and key players. Unfortunately we came out flat and were down 3-0 by half time. They were clinical and finished their chances. The second half was much better and we scored two nicely worked field goals to finish the match 5-2.
Spirits were a bit down after the four consecutive losses so we were determined to get a point against England. We knew they would come out aggressive and physical as it was a must win for them if they were to go through to the final. We had a great start scoring two field goals. Unfortunately they came back quickly with 2 quick goals to go into the break 2-2. The second half was back and forth with them putting a lot of pressure on our defence in the last 5 minutes. The score remained at 2-2.
Last match of the tournament was against China for 5th and 6th. It was great to finish with the win in a high scoring match 4-3. It is the first time the NZ Women have finished better than 6th in 10 years. The tournament was great preparation for us as we have a big year ahead with World cup and Commonwealth Games. I think we learnt a lot and the tournament showed us what the top teams are like and where we need to get to. It highlighted for us our weaknesses which we can now work on before the next big tournaments.
From here we now have 4 weeks back in NZ before the team leaves for Argentina for the World cup. The world cup team gets named next week.
Cheers
Emily Naylor