DUNEDIN, New Zealand: New Zealand can be proud of their Women's World Cup campaign on home soil despite their group-stage exit, coach Jitka Klimkova said after a goalless draw with Switzerland on Sunday (Jul 30) ended their hopes of reaching the knockout rounds.Co-hosting the tournament with Australia, New Zealand had never won a World Cup game in their previous five appearances.
They began with a memorable 1-0 upset of Norway in Group A but a shock 1-0 defeat to the Philippines tempered expectations.The Football Ferns again missed out on a place in the last 16, however, after finishing third in Group A with four points - their best ever showing at a World Cup."I'm very proud of our team and what we've done during this World Cup," Klimkova said. "When I saw the fans around, the sold-out stadiums and the connection that we had with New Zealand ...
that's what we were aiming for, that's what we wanted."We were very close to achieving a historic result... We got four points and two clean sheets.
That's an amazing result from this team. I'm sure we inspired a lot of young girls and boys to start loving and playing football."I would say it's been a successful tournament, even if we didn't get out of the group ...