4:47 am today

Football Ferns hungry for North America challenge

4:47 am today
Football Ferns coach Michael Mayne at the New Zealand Football Ferns team announcement for the 2024 Paris Olympics at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand on 4 July, 2024.

Football Ferns coach Michael Mayne. Photo: Photosport / Alan Lee

Football Ferns coach Michael Mayne says there's plenty of competition among the players and he'll use that as the side prepares to face Mexico and the USA.

The Football Ferns meet Mexico this afternoon, before a second match on Monday against the 29th ranked side in the world.

New Zealand then face the United States, who are ranked second in the world, next Thursday.

The Football Ferns arrived in Mexico a couple of days ago and Mayne said it was a balance between getting the right information out, without overloading the players.

"This tour is about probably just going deeper on a couple of parts of our playing model, the trap would be to come in and try and add too much with such little time. The first two days we're actually asking quite a lot of the players to cram in some of the detail, that will back off as the tour goes and then we can start to refine," Mayne said.

"I'd like to think that just the language we're using and the relationships and the roles across the pitch is where we can go a little bit deeper over the first couple of days and then our review process will sort of dictate what we attack in the next two games."

The Football Ferns coach said the quick turnaround between games would be challenging, but that was when players can really shine.

"For the playing group we really talk around the readiness and team first sort of attitude to make sure that when you need to play a role, you play that role," Mayne said.

"I think we can expect to see that competition come out over the next three games with players potentially taking up new roles in the system and allowing me to have a look at how they take to that. I would like to think we'll see players take the field, compete really well, get good minutes and that's how we can manage the tight turnaround."

The Football Ferns square off against Mexico at Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes, in Mexico City, with kick-off at 3pm.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs

We have regular online commentary of local and international sport.