Olympics: Smith confident Ferns can bounce back

New Zealand women's football captain Rebecca Smith thinks her side's experience will see them bounce back from their 1-0 defeat to Great Britain and still qualify for the quarter-finals at the London Olympics.

The Football Ferns were disappointing in the opening act of the entire Games. They started the match in Cardiff brightly and ended well but for the best part of an hour were either outplayed by the home side or handed Great Britain the initiative with some sloppy football.

They have some lofty ambitions on the back of some good results in 2012 but the performance didn't match those goals.

New Zealand still have a good chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals even though they face Brazil, the world's fifth-ranked side, in their second game on Sunday morning (NZT). The Ferns are ranked 23rd.

The women's football competition is a generous one with only 12 teams. The top two sides from each of the three pools as well as the two best-performing third-placed teams progress to the last eight and New Zealand probably need only beat Cameroon in their last pool game to progress.

They would have taken some heart in seeing Brazil beat Cameroon 5-0 later in the day because they were bitterly disappointed after their defeat to Great Britain.

"We came here to win," Smith said. "Not just win but we would like to medal. That's what every Olympian dreams of doing.

"Having lost three points in the first game is obviously not something we wanted. It's gutting. It's heart-wrenching losing in front of your fans and family and friends who have come all this way and all the Kiwi fans back home."

About 25,000 were at Millennium Stadium but it was the occasion that proved a weightier burden for the home side and Great Britain looked nervous.

But they soon found their rhythm and put New Zealand under considerable pressure. The Ferns didn't cope well, often gifting possession in bad areas, and put themselves under pressure.

They had a great chance to grab an equaliser but striker Sarah Gregorious shot straight at the goalkeeper when alone in the box.

Smith is confident they will bounce back quickly, especially with close to 900 caps in the squad.

"We have a lot of experience on the field, a lot of caps," she said. "We are confident still. This team has a lot of confidence because we have a team unity not a lot of teams have and we have played so much together. We know what we are all about and that's really important coming up against a team like Brazil who have really quality players."

There are few better than Marta, the five-time women's world player of the year, who scored twice against Cameroon.

She won't be lacking any confidence.

- APNZ