The winner of the Indomitable Lionesses was Ajar Nchout, N3 of Cameroon, with two goals, the second of which was a superb solo effort in the 95th minute, when the Africans scored a dramatic place on the knockout stage. New Zealand struggled courageously, but Cameroon produced the best chance for most of the game and finally deserved its last 16th place.
“It was a great game, a wonderful game to watch, but I’m frustrated by certain things that happened and the things we could’ve done. [Do you feel like a failure?] You always have a feeling of failure when you don’t win any games. I don’t think the word failure is the right word, you just come up against teams that are a little bit better. Teams like the Netherlands and today, so we’ll just have to look back at that. We’ll look forward to the Olympics and the next World Cup and we’ll look towards a better result.”
-Tom Sermanni, New Zealand Coach
The Lionesses struggled their way to gain a desired third position with their incredible comeback victory. The performers and fans will have pleasure and happiness. You now need to wait for the next round to see which group winners they meet.
“I know the girls inside out, we’ve spent ten years together. I know their strengths and weaknesses. I talk to them here and there. ‘I know you’ve taken a hit with the equalizer but keep your heads up and focus and do what’s necessary.’ We’ve played against Canada, we’ve played against the team that’s top of the Group, we’ll play our best and look forward to what’s next.”
– Coach Alain Djeumfa, Cameroon.
During the final phases of this game-even defender Abby Erceg played in front of them-NZ tossed everything at them, but the footballers simply could not discover a victor when Cameroon turned away to reach a popular match winning objective with the last knock of the game. This would end Football Ferns in a terribly agonizing manner.
Image: Kane Oosty/FIFA
