Two games of football – that is what it will take for Papua New Guinea to make history. As they take the field in New Zealand this week for the World Cup intercontinental playoffs, two wins would see the Pacific island nation reach its first World Cup.
The journey has been far from easy. The national team did not play a match from July 2019 until April 2022 but with New Zealand co-hosting the tournament this July and August, PNG seized the opportunity to qualify by winning the Oceania Nations Cup last July. Since then, results have slid, with Nicola Demaine losing her job as manager and little to no football played over almost three months.
This was the context into which Spencer Prior arrived in November. The 51-year-old brings a wealth of management experience with Australia, Young Matildas and Thailand women’s team.
“We’re trying to do in four months what other teams have spent four years preparing for,” he says. “It’s been a real whirlwind trying to get them fit, trying to get them some tactical understanding of what we want to do … I don’t think we’ve wasted a single minute.”
Prior brought in his own staff, including assistant Nicola Williams after she left Leicester City. They have added local PNG coaches, to help them develop and because of their knowledge of the players. The team have been based in Sydney and New Zealand, tapping into top-class facilities and participating in three-week training blocks to prepare.
“The positive is that it’s a blank canvas,” Prior says. “I think part of the reason that I was put in was because of my experience with Thailand’s women’s team; going into a programme and getting an understanding of the culture, first and foremost. To earn the players’ trust and then start to put stuff into place, it needed to be done very quickly.
“The players are keen to learn. It’s been hard work and we’ve really pushed them. The most exciting thing is that I don’t think the team understands the potential that they have. We took them to the Sydney Football Stadium where they will play their first game [against France] if they qualify. That got some excitement going in terms of what can happen if they win these next two games.”
In PNG, women face significant inequality and gender-based violence is high. This context has meant Prior and his staff have been keen to keep them in camp where they can ensure their safety and look after their needs and nutrition.
“Port Moresby [PNG’s capital] isn’t safe for girls to be going out on their own,” Prior says. “Rugby league is the national sport so when you factor in that these girls play football, and that they’re girls, they’re pretty much treated as second-class citizens. Also, the fact that they get to come to Australia and travel – there’s very much a tall poppy syndrome not just within communities but families as well.”
“It’s tough. We’ve got five or six mums in the squad. They miss family and they make huge sacrifices … Making sure that they’re relaxed and comfortable off the pitch has been key. [We have surrounded] ourselves with good local support staff – good player welfare officers who understand the girls.”
The challenge is reflected in the national programme. PNG hosted the 2016 Under-20 Women’s World Cup but has struggled to develop since. “There’s a chance to build and focus on getting more players through,” Prior says. “We’ve got players here who haven’t been in the national team before. They’re young; they’ve got engines; they’re enthusiastic and reasonably technical … If they qualify for the World Cup and they get the $5m, it will be interesting to make sure it all goes into the women’s programme. That’s genuine legacy.”
The first hurdle is Panama on Sunday, opponents Prior anticipates will be “predictably unpredictable”. If PNG win, Chinese Taipei or Paraguay stand between them and the World Cup. Prior was a little coy when asked what to expect. “I’ll tell you what we won’t do,” he says. “We won’t get rid of their natural attributes, which are to be strong and to fight … I’ll let everybody else be the judge of it. Who knows? It might be enough. At least we’ve had a bit of a fun and we’ve all had a good time working hard together.”
One thing is certain: the opportunity PNG have over the next 10 days is significant. “They might never get such a great chance again,” says Prior. “The OFC [Oceania Football Confederation] have been incredibly supportive. It’s a real challenge down here. I think to get there would be ridiculously overachieving, but it is a possibility, right? It’s two games of football. That’s it. If they are successful, I’m sure there would be a couple of glasses of red wine shared amongst the staff and then it would be looking at what is next on their journey.”
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