New Zealand footballers emotional after historic victory amidst national tragedy
New Zealand flag on the pitch Credit: Hugh de Paor (ETPhotos)
In a historic win for New Zealand's national football team, players expressed a mixture of delight, surprise, and heartfelt emotion at the final whistle.
The triumph came amidst a backdrop of a tragic shooting incident in Auckland earlier that morning, adding an extra layer of complexity to their feelings.
Malia Steinmetz, speaking to NZ Football's official Twitter account, confessed her disbelief at the achievement, "Kinda speechless. I just don’t feel like I am here at the moment," she said.
“I think you just play for those girls out there at the moment. I was just looking at Ria (Percival) and looking at (Ali) Riley and thinking “We are winning this”. For all those players in the past and those coming in the future, we just showed it today.”
Similarly, CJ Bott expressed a range of emotions on the same platform, stating, “I’m shocked. I’m elated. I’m so happy and emotional right now. I don’t know what to say. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
Meanwhile, team captain Ali Riley, speaking to Fifa.com, fought back her tears as she conveyed the mood of the nation following the morning's tragic shooting incident in Auckland.
“I am so, so proud. We’ve been fighting for this for so long and we had a clear goal that we wanted to inspire young girls, young people, around this country and around this world and I really think we did that tonight.
"We believed in ourselves from the very beginning and we showed it... this is what dreams are made of. The energy [from the crowd] helped us get through it. We thought of the victims and the first responders.
"They made us so proud and we just wanted to help bring something amazing today.”
On the opposing side, Norwegian manager Hege Riise revealed to BBC Online the tense circumstances leading up to the match.
Waking up to "helicopters and police outside the team hotel" following the nearby shooting was a sobering start to the day.
However, Riise declined to use the incident as an excuse for their performance on the field.
"Some players slept through it," Riise added.
"It hasn't affected us in how we performed in the game. We didn't get any momentum at all."
Read the full match report - New Zealand 1 - 0 Norway on extratime.com
About Philip Morrissey
Philip is a Cork City fan for his entire adult life. From bad times to good, whether this was taking on some major European sides or in the First Division. Philip went back to college … View Full Profile