When the players hit the field, they were greeted with a wall of noise. There were blobs of red and blue in the packed stands of New Zealand’s largest stadium but most of the fans were neutrals; thousands of New Zealanders without a specific horse in the race. This was an equal-opportunity crowd, there for the moment, and the game.
The final match of the Women’s World Cup to be hosted in New Zealand – a tense semi-final between Sweden and Spain – was played before a record-breaking, sellout crowd. Any lingering doubts about whether New Zealand would muster enthusiasm for football – or about the rising status and mass appeal of women’s sport – were put to bed.
