World Cup dream closer to reality after big 2022 for Glory star
Liz Anton was the biggest mover in the Football Ferns last year, writes Andrew Voerman.
No-one in the Football Ferns had a bigger year in 2022 than Liz Anton and she’s hoping to continue making progress against the United States next week.
At the start of last year, the defender hadn’t played for the New Zealand national women’s football team since 2018, and appeared to be well down the pecking order at centre back. By the end of it, she had played in 10 of the team’s 12 matches, tripling her tally of international caps and impressing while deputising for first-choice fullbacks CJ Bott and Ali Riley.
Anton went to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and missed out on squads later that year in part due to Covid-19 border restrictions, so it’s not as though she was completely out of the picture. But she has gone from fringe player to being almost certain to be included when coach Jitka Klimkova´ selects her squad for the Fifa Women’s World Cup later this year.
The 24-year-old, midway through her third season playing for Perth Glory in A-League Women, said the dream of making the cut for a World Cup on home soil was a lot closer to being a reality than it appeared a year ago.
‘‘At this stage last year, it was more going into the unknown, because I didn’t know where I fitted in. Looking back on last year, it’s good to have had consistent game time. A few other players had had a few more camps with Jitka, so I really had to dive into it when I got there.
‘‘I took my opportunities when I got them and I think it’s put me in a good space for this year, but I’ve still got three windows to go, to prove that I should be in the squad and also pushing for game time.
‘‘I’m excited. It’s a good opportunity ahead and it’s going to be a good six months.’’
Anton finished 2022 by starting in six of the Ferns’ last seven matches while specialist replacements stayed on the bench.
Though she has stayed at centre back for the Glory this summer, Anton has embraced the positional shift she has been asked to make at international level, noting that it’s not the first time Klimkova´ has had a new role for her.
The first time was nine years ago, when she coached a teenage Anton at the Fifa Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.
‘‘Mainly I actually was a six when I was younger, then when Jitka got us for 17s, she changed me from six to centre back, and then last year she was like ‘What are your thoughts on playing fullback?’ and I was like, ‘OK, just keep changing me, that’s fine’.
‘‘There are a lot of centre backs in our team, so I just viewed it as, if I can play fullback and she knows I can play centre back, it gives me that versatility. It’s always good to learn a different position and it’s quite interesting to see how they are different, even though they’re both in the backline. I’ve enjoyed it – there are a lot more high-speed metres, but that’s OK.’’
Anton could yet find herself playing at centre back next week against the reigning world champions, with the Ferns’ top-five options in the position all unavailable for the matches at Sky Stadium on Wednesday and Eden Park on Saturday – Katie Bowen, Claudia Bunge, Meikayla Moore, Rebekah Stott and Kate Taylor.
The fixtures against the US fall outside the windows where clubs have to release players for international duty, but Glory coach Alex Epakis has allowed Anton to be one of the few in-season Football Ferns to make the trip home.
She will begin her journey from Perth after the Glory host the Wellington Phoenix tonight, buoyed by the fact that a late-fixture change has kept her from missing a match for the first time in her A-League Women career. Since joining the Glory ahead of the 2020-21 season, Anton has started all of their 32 matches and played every minute.
A clash with Sydney was scheduled for next Saturday at the same time the Ferns play their second match against the US in Auckland, but on Friday it was postponed to March – a lucky break that will mean her perfect record with Perth stays intact.