‘To play in that would be magnificent’
He’s played in an FA Cup final loss for Millwall against Manchester United but, reports Phillip Rollo, Paul Ifill’s next challenge could be his toughest yet.
Nix legend Paul Ifill eyes World Cup qualifiers as new coach of Samoa women
Wellington Phoenix legend Paul Ifill is attempting to qualify Oceania minnows Samoa for their first-ever World Cup, after being appointed coach of the women’s national team ahead of the 2023 tournament co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
Samoa are currently ranked 99th on the Fifa world rankings and failed to make it out of the group at the most recent OFC Nations Cup, which the Football Ferns won to book their ticket to the 2018 World Cup in France.
But Ifill, who has coached Wairarapa United’s women’s team for the past three seasons, has sensed an opportunity for the smaller nations within Oceania.
With the Football Ferns automatically qualifying as hosts, the next best team in the confederation progress through to a 10-team playoff tournament, where the final three cup spots will be up for grabs.
Ifill said it would be a lifechanging experience for Samoa’s players to attend the global showpiece and the chance to try and qualify for a cup as coach was a key reason why he decided to apply for the role.
‘‘Just the opportunity for the players to be able to play in that playoff tournament would be magnificent,’’ Ifill said.
‘‘You’re going to have big countries, the likes of Thailand and Ghana potentially, all teams that are ranked higher than Samoa at the moment, with the ultimate carrot of trying to go through to a World Cup.
‘‘The main aim over the next year or so is to get fully prepared for the qualifiers and aim to get to that tournament and see where it takes us.’’
As well as coaching Wairarapa, Ifill has experience working as an assistant coach at Hawke’s Bay United and Tasman United in the men’s national league, and runs the Paul Ifill Football Academy in Masterton.
He said he was excited to take the next step in his coaching career by working at the international level and was fortunate to hold one of the few roles as the head coach of a national women’s team.
‘‘I don’t think it really sunk in until I was announced,’’ he said.
‘‘You look across and there’s only 142 nations in women’s football, so I’m one of only 142 coaches worldwide, and that’s a pretty small number of coaches, and it’s pretty cool. The last three years, having coached Wairarapa and with Tasman and Hawke’s Bay, I feel like I’ve done my apprenticeship and now it’s time to go out and test myself.’’
Due to Covid-19, Ifill will initially perform the role from New Zealand and will identify potential players who were eligible to represent Samoa in the hope of strengthening the team.
‘‘There’s a lot of individual things that I’ll measure my success by but ultimately I want to make everyone I work with better from coaches to players and the staff around the federation. There’s lots to do but all of it is exciting to me.’’