2023 FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP - OUR 3 PASIFIKA PLAYERS
By Thomas Airey
The three Pasifika players at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand are all set to play on the opening night of the tournament this evening (Thursday 20th July).
Samoan New Zealander Malia Steinmetz will likely be the first of the trio in action having cemented herself in the Football Ferns’ best starting XI.
The 24-year-old has started in seven straight international games dating back to February, most often shielding the backline as the team’s deepest midfielder.
Co-captain Ria Percival’s return from a serious knee injury that had kept her off the pitch for more than a year has not bumped Steinmetz onto the bench.
In warmups against Vietnam (a 2-0 win) and Italy (a 0-1 loss) in the last 10 days Percival has taken up that defensive holding role with Steinmetz’s youth and versatility applied to an all-rounder position slightly higher up the pitch.
The Western Sydney Wanderers player contributed to a strong attacking performance against Vietnam in Napier as New Zealand enjoyed a rare game in which they dominated possession and created many goalscoring opportunities.
But it’s her defensive qualities that are more likely to be showcased in the opening match against Norway, one of the tournament favourites, on Thursday night at Eden Park.
Switzerland (July 30 in Dunedin) will be another extremely difficult game for the Football Ferns, but they will be eyeing up the Phillippines (July 25 in Wellington) as a team they could beat for a first ever World Cup win.
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Fijian New Zealander Grace Jale will suddenly be nervous about getting significant game time in any of those matches.
Like Steinmetz, a schoolmate of hers at Mt Albert Grammar in Auckland, the 24-year-old had been a regular starter for the Football Ferns in 2023.
However Jale couldn’t even get off the bench against Vietnam or Italy, with coach Jitka Klimková preferring other forward options.
The Canberra United player can operate as a central striker, an attacking midfielder or on the wings, but prefers the two former positions that allow her to get on the ball and create chances.
Perhaps Jale’s versatile skillset is a drawback rather than an asset in Klimková’s eyes, as specialist talents like the physical main striker Hannah Wilkinson, and fast, tricky wingers like Jacqui Hand and Indiah-Paige Riley are the presumptive starting attackers.
While she may not be flavour of the month right now, Jale is a genuine attacking talent that finished second overall in the 2022-23 A-League for assists with seven, significantly more than any of her national teammates playing in the same competition.
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Papua New Guinean/Irish Australian Mary Fowler shares Jale’s versatility as a multi-talented attacker without a tightly-defined role, but with far more quality and potential.
The 20-year-old has long been touted as the successor to Matildas captain and superstar striker Sam Kerr as one of the best players in the world.
She showed why last Friday night, coming off the bench to score the winner as Australia beat France 1-0 in front of 50,000 fans in Melbourne in their final warm-up match.
Fowler replaced starting winger Cortnee Vine at halftime, and her goal came in the 66th minute after Kerr had left the pitch to rest before the World Cup begins.
The starring performance should guarantee her playing time in the Matildas opening game against Ireland on Thursday night after the New Zealand vs Norway match.
It might be difficult for Fowler to crack into the starting XI with her former Manchester City teammate Hayley Raso, Arsenal forward Caitlin Foord, along with Kerr and Vine all deserving places in Australia’s attacking quartet.
But the goal off the bench against France would suggest she is poised to thrive in a super sub role at her first World Cup, with the Matildas set to go deep into the knockout rounds.
She’s used to changing the game as a substitute too; most of Fowler’s 19 appearances for City last season came from the bench, adding impact late and learning from star forwards like England’s Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp and Jamaica’s Bunny Shaw.
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