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PHILLIP ROLLO / STUFF
Football forward Emma Rolston scored a hat-trick on Wednesday.
A "crazy" football day did not stop Football Ferns from getting closer to qualifying for the World Cup.
The Ferns easily represented the hosts of the tournament, New Caledonia, in the OFC Nations Cup semi-finals, winning the 8-0 win on Lifou Island on Wednesday.
This was the distance from their venue for the match, there was not enough accommodation for both teams, so they took the same 40-minute round trip flight to Noumea, what the New Zealand captain, Ali Riley, said before the match as being unique. experience.
"We knew that being in this group, the first seed of our group would play on a different island, but it seemed rather to go into the distant future before and now that it is here, it 's right. is pretty crazy and rather exciting.
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"It's nothing that I've done before, and I asked the question a bit, and no one has done it before, we're nervous and excited and that's going to be the way this trip was unfolded so far, lots of new experiences and fun. "
Coach Tom Sermanni had some selection surprises as he continued to keep his team running, despite being a knockout semifinal. The heat of 30 degrees Celsius and the difficult experience of match days may have played a role in these decisions.
Nadia Olla made her debut with Ferns on goal, while Paige Satchell won her second start of the tournament on the right flank.
The 19-year-old scored Betsy Hassett's first goal sensational in the first minute, running 75 meters, beating four defensemen before giving her teammate the chance to land at the bottom of the corner.
Emma Rolston got the second goal with a similar result in the seventh minute, ending the match in the form of a contest, if any.
It's become a matter of how much the ferns would gain by. He was 7-0 at halftime with Rolston already a hat-trick.
New Zealand added only one more goal in the second half via White, under the effect of heat that was losing all its energy.
New Zealand will face Fiji in the Noumea final Saturday at 7 pm (local time) after beating Papua New Guinea 5-1 in the other semifinal. The winner qualifies for the World Cup next June in France. New Zealand beat Fiji 10-0 earlier in the tournament.
From an eye catch
New Zealand 8 (Betsy Hassett 1 ", Emma Rolston 7" 20 "43", Katie Bowen 26 ", Paige Satchell 31", Rosie White 38 "60 & # 39; # 39;) New Caledonia 0. Excl. Tax: 7-0
Final: New Zealand – Fiji, Saturday at 19h (local time) at Numa Daly Stadium in Noumea, New Caledonia
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