Ferns head coach Klimková: The lessons we learned at the SheBelieves Cup

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Head coach Jitka Klimková says self-belief and trust are the key lessons learned by her Football Ferns squad during the four-nations SheBelieves Cup.

The Ferns finished bottom of the round-robin group after failing to score in their three games against world champions United States, Iceland and Czech Republic.

The tournament was designed to replicate the timetable and conditions that will be faced by teams when competing in their groups at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, to be co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.

After their 0-0 draw against her native Czech Republic, Klimková told the NZ Football website:

“We are going to make a lot of steps forward and couple of steps backwards. That’s what I felt during those two games against Iceland and USA, but this result against Czech Republic is another one forward.

“We talked a lot after Iceland and after the USA about our mentality, our belief, and the way we want to play.

“It’s tough in the situation when you concede in the first minute or in the fifth minute of the game. The starts of both our games against Iceland and the USA didn’t go how we wanted, and it was a lot about our mindset. So I think that’s the biggest lesson learned: how we have to be prepared and how we have to start believing that we can play against anybody.

“But we have to stay focused, we have to believe in each other, we need to trust each other. And that’s probably the, the biggest lesson learned from the SheBelieves Cup.”

Tournament results

Friday February 18
Iceland 1, New Zealand 0
United States 0, Czech Republic 0

Monday February 21
United States 5 New Zealand 0
Czech Republic 1 Iceland 2

Thursday February 24
New Zealand 0 Czech Republic 0
United States 5 Iceland 0

Final table

Video replays

Here are the five-minute highlights packages from New Zealand’s games:

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