Editorial: Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023 off to a crowd-pleasing start

Football Ferns striker Hannah Wilkinson celebrates after the win over Norway. Photo / Photosport

Opinion

The phenomenon called overnight success is never overnight success. It’s the culmination of various factors like hard work, drive, tears and disappointments, talent, and luck.

It’s also never just one person or a few people achieving success - there are others behind the scenes who are part of it.

The Football Ferns had a breakout moment for the ages in beating Norway in the opening game of the Fifa Women’s World Cup at Eden Park.

Tomorrow, they hope to keep their momentum going against the Philippines, and later against Switzerland.

For many Kiwis, Thursday’s match would have been their first dazzling exposure to these players and what they are capable of.

To produce such a performance of both dogged determination and attacking flair at the ideal moment while the world is watching is like a band coming out of nowhere to land a global number one hit.

But there was a long journey to get to this point, with players having years of toil behind them and coming together from clubs around the world.

Midfielder Malia Steinmetz said afterward: “I knew we had that, we deserved it. So much has led to this, so many years.”

And Betsy Hassett, who has played 146 matches, said: “We all did really well to somehow play the best games of our lives in front of our friends and families.”

As much as the occasion and the result - New Zealand’s first win at a senior football World Cup - was something to savour for the players, it appeared to have an electrifying impact on the country.

Fifa says more than a million people watched it here and it had the highest TV audience for a football match in the country in more than two decades.

The first four matches in New Zealand attracted crowd attendances of about 120,000, including a buoyant United States win over Vietnam at Eden Park, in bright sunshine and watched by 41,000.

Like the Black Ferns last year, the Football Ferns showed their gutsy, hard-charging Kiwi DNA and the 42,000-strong crowd and nation responded.

The Black Ferns had also been down on form before their World Cup tournament, but had a history of previous national excellence to tap into. The Football Ferns have gone from surprise packages (to most of us) to stars overnight.

As with the Black Ferns, the team’s relatable spontaneity and sense of being real in their dealings with the public makes people warm to them. The crowds who went to both tournaments seemed to represent a positive side of ourselves.

The team was not the only one to shine.

The stadiums used have looked stunning to regular watchers of low-key Super Rugby games, especially Eden Park. Sports administrators here are getting lessons on how to run events better.

Striking colours and designs on the boards in the stands and around the venues make them look sharp.

The decision to give away some tickets to boost numbers in the stands was a sensible calculation with TV viewers in mind. Big noisy crowds of people having a good time create buzz at the event and for people watching at home or in pubs. Small crowds are buzz-killers.

It’s good to create enthusiasm on the ground, in the host countries, and among viewers around the world. Enjoyment and success tend to inspire more of it.