Daily News | New Zealand rallies a nation shocked by shooting with its first-ever World Cup win
By nightfall, the opportunity came to release all the pent-up emotions. A wonderful opening ceremony that showed off the local indigenous Māori culture brought the crowd to its feet, even more when New Zealand’s name came up in the video introducing the tournament’s 32 teams. A big cheer went up for the U.S.’ name, too, signaling it had many fans in the stands ahead of the two-time reigning champs’ opener here Saturday vs. Vietnam .
The noise kept coming as New Zealand surprisingly took the game to Norway’s superior talent. Norway’s squad boasts all-world attacking stars in Ada Hegerberg and Caroline Graham Hansen, but the ball was at the other end of the field for much of the first half.Two minutes into the second half, the ultimate catharsis arrived. Indiah-Paige Riley sprung Jacqueline Hand down the right wing, Hannah Wilkinson raced up the middle with her, and Hand put the ball on a dime for Wilkinson to slam home.
“It was a team performance,” said Ferns centerback Katie Bowen, who played for four NWSL teams from 2016-22 before moving to Australia last year. “I know that I was able to get up Ada’s [rear end] — excuse my French — but I knew that I had cover behind me … Ali Riley did a great job against Hansen. But everybody did their jobs around the park.”, was one of many players who spoke on the importance of using the game to rally the nation.
Soccer is not New Zealand’s first sport. Rugby comes first, cricket second, and then the field. The order is the same at Eden Park, too, home of this country’s world-superpower national rugby teams and a men’s cricket team with multiple recent titles on its shelf.
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