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ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE — While most of America was sleeping, the "Football Ferns" of New Zealand rode a wave of emotion to an inspiring victory over one of the world's top teams in the Women's World Cup.
The match began at midnight Pacific time, but that didn't stop many faithful football fans from enjoying the tournament's first action, including fans of NWSL club Angel City cheering on their captain, Ali Riley, from an after-hours watch party in Los Angeles.
"Anything is possible!" was the rallying cry from Riley — also captain of the New Zealand squad — after the 1-0 victory Thursday. Norway is ranked No. 12 in the world and has remained a power in women's soccer since its World Cup title in 1995.
But one key sequence from the Ferns turned the match on its head and thrust belief into a country reeling from a tragic shooting in that very city of Auckland earlier in the day.
The New Zealand keeper sent a quick ball upfield early in the second half, and the Ferns went for it. Jacqueline Hand sprinted up the right side with the ball glued to her feet and sent a perfect cross behind the Norway defense, finding New Zealand's all-time leading goalscorer Hannah Wilkinson right in front of the goal for an easy finish.
Ali Riley reacting after a historic win for New Zealand, and yes we might have cried a little. 🥺
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) July 20, 2023
🎥 @FOXSoccerpic.twitter.com/oE7czGzXRc
The goal made Wilkinson the top scorer all-time on both the men's and women's teams for New Zealand and gave the Football Ferns their first-ever World Cup victory in front of 42,137 people — the largest soccer crowd in the nation's history.
"I'm so, so proud. We've been fighting for this for so long," Riley said. "We had a clear goal that we wanted to inspire young girls, young people around this country and around the world, and I really think we did that tonight."
New Zealand's neighbor and World Cup co-host Australia also got a win Thursday, putting the two host nations at the top of their respective groups to begin the tournament.
World Cup action continues Thursday night with Canada taking on Nigeria at 8:30 p.m. MDT before the U.S. begins its quest for three World Cup titles in a row Friday at 7 p.m. MDT against first-time participant Vietnam.
