Hearn bows out as country’s leading scorer
The Football Ferns’ leading goalscorer has slipped quietly into retirement.
Amber Hearn has played her last game for the national women’s football team and won’t add to her 125 caps or her 54 goals.
Hearn’s last appearance for the Football Ferns came in June
2018, when she captained the side in a loss to Japan at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
NZ Football confirmed her decision yesterday, ahead of the naming of the Ferns’ squad for the Algarve Cup, which starts next week.
Hearn suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury later in
2018, shortly after signing for
EDF LogroNo in Spain, but opted not to have surgery.
She did not return to fitness in time to be considered for last year’s World Cup in France, where the Ferns’ lack of attacking threat was plain to see, as the only goal they scored was an own goal. Ferns coach Tom Sermanni last addressed Hearn’s situation in November, revealing she had declined an invite to a training camp in October, leaving the team uncertain of her status.
In a statement issued by NZ Football, Hearn said it had been ‘‘very hard’’ to make the decision to retire.
‘‘Believe me, I’ve procrastinated over it for as long as I’ve been back in New Zealand. I had a major injury but behind it all was having that little bit of freedom back and being around my family,’’ she adds.
‘‘I gave 20 years and have sacrificed so much to be a footballer, missing funerals, weddings and births.
‘‘Now I’m back and I’ve been blessed to see my niece give birth to two beautiful boys – they and my boy Tyrone are absolutely my world.’’
Hearn made her debut against Australia in 2004 and went on to play for the Football Ferns at two Fifa Women’s World Cups and three Olympics.
Her 54 goals are the most by any New Zealand footballer – male or female – and include three hat-tricks, against the Cook Islands (twice) and Vanuatu.
Trailing Hearn on the Football Ferns’ all-time goalscorer list with 34 are Sarah Gregorius, who is set to earn her 100th cap at the Algarve Cup, and Wendy Sharpe, who played in the 1980s and 90s.
Then come Hannah Wilkinson, with 25, and Rosie White, with 24, a duo who have stepped up in Hearn’s absence and are set to lead the line in the immediate future, including at the Tokyo Olympics in July.
‘‘It was my time to step down but there’s so much potential in those replacing me,’’ Hearn said.
‘‘I’ve always encouraged Bambi [Rosie White] to fill my shoes and she has more than stepped up.’’