Football Ferns head coach Jitka Klimková says the behaviour of striker Hannah Wilkinson that led to her red card against Chile was “not acceptable”.
Speaking after New Zealand’s 3-0 loss to Chile in their friendly international, Klimková said “emotions were involved” in the Ferns’ first game since the “amazing tournament” of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“Hannah is one of the nicest persons I know, so I know it mattered to her but honestly, we don’t want to see those kind of behaviours in the future,” she said.
Wilkinson was given a straight red in the 55th minute after seemingly coming into contact with an assistant referee while remonstrating with her on the sideline, after having her shirt pulled by a defender.
Wilkinson faces a potentially lengthy ban which could impact on her availability for New Zealand’s Olympic campaign.
READ MORE: Wilkinson red card adds to misery as Football Ferns are outplayed 3-0 by Chile >>>>
Meanwhile, Klimková acknowledged New Zealand’s performance against Chile was below standard.
“I know we can do better than that. There’s no doubt about it. We remember it still fresh in our heads how we performed during the World Cup, and what we’ve seen today is not even close,” she said.
“It was a lot of mistakes; we gave the ball away even without the pressure. It was a lot of turnovers today, and if you are giving the ball away, then of course you are on your back foot, and you have to defend.
“Huge credit to Chile because they played really, really interesting and quick football that led to three goals, and I have to say it’s a very strong team that we faced today.
“But it was more about us and our performance, and that was not good enough.
“We have to be quicker on the ball, we have to start combining with each other. That’s the way how we want to play. We want to play together, and today we didn’t play together.
“So we know where the spaces are; that’s important for us for the second game.
“I think that’s what we will be looking for, how we can exploit the spaces better. And we have to now come to our basics just to keep the ball moving and have clear touches on the ball and better passes with each other.
“Defensively, there was a lot of time when we left Chile and forwards just by themselves, and it was much easier for them to go towards our goal without our defenders.
“A lot of things that we will be talking (about). We have to prioritize, and then we’ll get ready.”
Result
Game played on Sunday September 24, 2023
Chile 3 (Daniela Zamora 27′, Yenny Acuña 31′, Yessenia López 47′)
New Zealand 0
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