5 Apr 2015

USA outclass Football Ferns

12:42 pm on 5 April 2015

The Football Ferns have been humbled 4-0 by world number two women's side the USA in St Louis.

The New Zealanders went 1-nil down early in the first half and while they held out until the last 15 minutes, the Americans scored three goals in six minutes to show why they're among the favourites for the World Cup in Canada.

Football Ferns team photo, February 2015.

Football Ferns team photo, February 2015 Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The Ferns never looked comfortable while the USA found the going fairly easy most of the game at the Cardinals stadium, in front of 35,817 fans - the largest crowd since the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup to watch a USA women's game at home.

The Football Ferns coach Tony Readings says his players were overawed by the occasion.

"The tactics out there are one thing, and you're always going to look to tweak them, but it's the attitude when we go into those games to actually believe in ourselves because we know we're capable of more.

"In the second half it was almost like we tried so hard to believe in ourselves that we played ourselves into trouble a lot. We were almost trying to make up for the first half where didn't play with that level of belief," he said.

The two sides meet again on Tuesday in St Louis in a training game.