INTERVIEW: New Zealand captain Abby Erceg

At just 25-years-old, Abby Erceg has already hit the century mark for her country. Born at the very tip of New Zealand, Erceg’s talent was evident early on, she was in the squad for the 2007 tournament as a 17-year-old and will this year captain her country in Canada. We spoke to her about her hopes for the World Cup…

You’re in a group alongside the hosts of the tournament and your old national team coach. How confident are you of getting through the group and what is your preparation like as a team?

We are relatively confident as a team that we will get out of our group. We have the advantage of having played everyone in our group before and getting results against them. I think the fact that our old coach is in our group is neither here nor there. At the end of the day, we play against the team he coaches, not against him, and I’m sure we’ll all be friends again at the end of it all!

The last tournament didn’t go too well for New Zealand, how far have you come as a team since 2011?

In our last tournament we were still a relatively young team and we were sitting outside the FIFA top 20. We have significantly improved in four years and taken great strides forward with our game. I think we will be an exciting team to watch.

Tony Readings took over in 2012, how has he changed things and how have you found working under him?

Tony has been great, he added a new and fresh perspective, which was what we needed, I think. He encourages mistakes in training and boosts the confidence of the players; working with him has been a breeze. I hope we can show him how much we have appreciated his hard efforts with good results.

You’re New Zealand’s captain, as well as their most capped player; tell us a bit about how you view yourself as a player, your style of play?

I have been fortunate to captain my country and attain many caps at such a young age. I think that has built up my confidence significantly. I like to get on the ball and play and get as many touches as I can, which is unusual for a defender in the central position. I think a lot of my strengths lie in my in possession game.

Who are the key players in the team for New Zealand to succeed in Canada?

The good thing about our team is that we don’t rely on just two or three players to perform in order for us to get results. We understand that not everyone can be on it all the time as well, so in order for us to do well, the majority of the team needs to perform, not just one or two. We have a couple of key positions, whoever is in those spaces needs to do well, such as the holding midfielder and the attacking midfielder, along with our goalkeeper. Everyone relies on each other which I think is just another aspect of our team that is unique.

Finally, should you come up against England this summer; how do you view our team and our players?

England is a quality side. Our best results against them have been draws and we have never managed to come away with a clean win. The players are tidy and they’re good at shifting the ball. We haven’t played them since the London Olympics, so the match up three years later would be interesting!

Follow Rich on Twitter @RichJLaverty