Ferns face ‘difficult’ draw

Now the Football Ferns know who they will play at the World Cup, it’s a matter of getting their preparation right.

Coach Tom Sermanni was content with the draw for next year’s event in France, which pits his 19th-ranked side against fifth-ranked Canada, seventh-ranked Netherlands, and 46th-ranked Cameroon in group E.

‘‘It’s like any draw you’d expect at a World Cup,’’ he said from Paris. ‘‘It’s a difficult draw but it’s not an insurmountable one. We’ve played the Netherlands [losing 1-0] and we’ve played Canada [drawing 0-0] at the previous World Cup and we’ve been competitive.

‘‘Our players will look at the group, they’ll think it’s going to be difficult but they’ll think we’ve got a chance.’’

The Ferns begin their campaign against the Netherlands on June 11 (June 12, NZT) before facing Canada on June 15 (June 16) and Cameroon on June 20 (June 21).

They have twin goals for the tournament of winning a game at a World Cup for the first time and qualifying for the knockout stages for the first time in five appearances.

Drawing Canada, ranked fifth of the six teams in pod one, the strongest pod, was a boon, as was drawing Cameroon, ranked fourth of the six teams in pod four, the weakest group.

But drawing the Netherlands, the topranked team in pod two, gives the Ferns, ranked fourth in group E, a slightly more difficult task than they would have hoped for.

The top two teams in each of the six groups advance to the round of 16, where they are joined by the four best thirdplaced teams.