Women’s World Cup Preparations Underway For City's Stars
- CJ Bott scored in 2-0 win for New Zealand over Vietnam
- Courtney Nevin came on as a late substitute in Australia's 1-0 victory against France
- Hannah Cain and Josie Green featured in Wales' tight defeat to USA
- Belgium captain Janice Cayman played in Netherlands loss
- Sophie Howard started as Scotland won 3-0 against Northern Ireland
On Monday evening, New Zealand played their penultimate World Cup preparation match against Vietnam, a nation that are debuting in this tournament, picking up a convincing 2-0 win.
Leicester’s CJ Bott played the full game at McLean Park, and even opened the scoring in Napier just 17 minutes in when Ria Percival played it to City’s No.4 on the edge of the box, who beat the ‘keeper with a low effort from range.
Åland United’s Jacqueline Hand confirmed victory minutes before half-time, but four days later the Football Ferns were on the reverse to a 1-0 Italian scoreline – Bott being rested for the final test. New Zealand kickstart their World Cup journey next Thursday when the face Norway in the first match of Group B, kicking off at 8am.
Another Fox preparing for this summer’s competition is Courtney Nevin, who made her move to Leicestershire permanent last week, and she was a late substitute in Australia’s 1-0 win over France on Friday; Mary Fowler scoring the only goal of the game in the second half.
The full-back has the chance to make a World Cup appearance three hours after Bott, when the Matildas take on Ireland in Group B next week.
There have been other City players in friendly action over the past week. Hannah Cain and Josie Green were two, with both starting in Wales’ 2-0 defeat to international heavyweights USA.
Cain, who recently committed to a long-term deal with the Club, played the whole match as Green was taken off eight minutes from time. A second-half brace from Trinity Rodman meant victory for the hosts in California.
New signing Janice Cayman becomes the first Belgian in City’s squad, and as the most capped women’s player in the country’s history, she captained the team earlier this month in a defeat to the Netherlands.
The last Fox in action on the international stage was centre-back Sophie Howard, who started and played over an hour in Scotland’s 3-0 win over Northern Ireland, as Erin Cuthbert, Sam Kerr and Martha Thomas scored the goals at The Kilmac Stadium on Friday evening.
All times BST.