Football Ferns make changes to face Venezuela
- Dave Worsley
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
Football Ferns interim coach Michael Mayne has named five changes to his previous squad to face Venezuela next month in Spain.
Calgary Wild’s Ally Green, Newcastle Jets’ Deven Jackson, Wellington Phoenix’s Grace Jale, and Melbourne City’s Rebekah Stott all return, as Mayne continues to examine a range of players in the team environment to build depth across the pitch ahead of the next FIFA Women’s World Cup cycle.
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Midfielder Betsy Hassett with 157 appearances returns for the first time since giving birth in 2024, and will travel to Spain with her son and partner.
The team will be looking to build on their good performances in 2024, after opening the year with a win and draw against Costa Rica before being unable to play in the April window due to pitch safety concerns in Taiwan.
Of players named in erns squads in the last year, CJ Bott, Katie Bowen, Macey Fraser, Anna Leat, Malia Steinmetz, Jana Radosavljević, Ali Riley, and Indiah-Paige Riley were not available for selection due to injury concerns or return to play considerations.
“It’s another exciting squad to name, with good consistency and lots of motivation to reassemble in Spain and get back to work, especially as we weren’t able to get our performance out on the pitch in the last international window due to issues outside of our control," said Mayne.
“As with previous windows, the priority for us at this stage of the cycle is building competition in the squad ahead of the next FIFA Women’s World Cup, so it is good to welcome back some players who weren’t in the squad in the last or last few windows.
“Following her return to football and her progress, it's great to call Betsy back into the Ford Football Ferns whānau after giving birth to her son Nói last year, and we look forward to the whole family joining us in camp.
“Venezuela will be a good challenge for us at this point in the cycle, so I’m looking forward to working with the team to continue implementing our new playing model and seeing some strong individual performances to promote a dominant team performance in Spain.”
The Ford Football Ferns face Venezuela on Sunday 1 June 2025 at 4am NZT (31 May 2025 at 6pm local) and Wednesday 4 June 2025 at 4am NZT (3 June 2025 at 6pm local).
The first game will be played at the Marbella Football Center in San Pedro de Alcántara, Spain.
The second will take place at Estadio Nuevo Mirador in Algeciras, Spain.
Football Ferns squad:
Liz Anton, Kolbotn IL, Norway, Kelli Brown, Perth Glory, Australia,
Claudia Bunge, Melbourne Victory, Australia, Milly Clegg, Halifax Tides, Canada,
Manaia Elliott, Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand, Victoria Esson, Rangers, Scotland,
Michaela Foster, Durham FC, England, Ally Green, Calgary Wild, Canada, Maya Hah, FFC Turbine Potsdam, Germany, Jacqui Hand, Sheffield United, England, Betsy Hassett, Stjarnan FC, Iceland, Deven Jackson, Newcastle Jets, Australia, Grace Jale, Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand, Claudia Jenkins, Adelaide United, Australia, Katie Kitching, Sunderland AFC, England, Annalie Longo, Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand, Meikayla Moore Calgary Wild, Canada, Ruby Nathan Canberra United, Australia, Grace Neville, London City Lionesses, England, Emma Pijnenburg, Feyenoord Rotterdam, Netherlands, Alina Santos, University of Denver, USA, Rebekah Stott, Melbourne City, Australia, Kate Taylor, Dijon FCO, France,
Grace Wisnewski,Lexington SC, USA
