Whangarei to host Olympic qualifier

The New Zealand women's football side's road to London will continue in Northland with Whangarei's Toll Stadium confirmed to host the first leg of Oceania women's Olympic playoff against Papua New Guinea on March 31. The match will be the first time the Football Ferns have played a home international outside Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or Hamilton and will form part of a festival of international and local football with the game preceded by the men's and women's finals of Northland's Community Cups. "It's great to be able to take a crucial game to a part of the country that hasn't hosted international football before and even better that it becomes part of wider football event for the community," New Zealand Football chief executive Grant McKavanagh said. "We want to take big games around the country as much as we can. The men's Olympic qualifiers begin in Taupo this week and there are All Whites games on the horizon later in the year that we'll be talking to various city councils about. The away leg on April 4, likely to be in Port Moresby or Lei, could yet prove a tricky affair so an in-form Ferns will look to take control of the tie with a comprehensive performance on home soil. Coach Tony Readings will assemble a strong squad to make sure there are no slip-ups. Papua New Guinea beat Tonga 2-0 in the final of the Oceania women's Olympic qualifiers last week to earn a date with the Football Ferns but New Zealand should have little trouble qualifying for the 12-team tournament in London. New Zealand have never been beaten by a side from the Pacific Islands and thumped Papua New Guinea 11-0 in their last outing in the final of the Oceania World Cup qualifiers in October 2010 to earn a place in Germany. Their match in Port Moresby in 2008 was much tighter but New Zealand still won 2-0 to earn a place at the Beijing Olympics. The Football Ferns recently ran world No 1 USA to the wire in a 2-1 defeat and finished the Cyprus Cup unbeaten last week after draws against Netherlands, South Africa and South Korea and a victory over Northern Ireland.