Veteran New Zealand player Annalie Longo is afraid of the repercussions of the poor performance at the just concluded Rio 2016 Olympic Games as the team failed to proceed beyond the group stage.
She claimed the funding could be reduced in light of the results at the tourney.
New Zealand faced a tough opposition in United States and France – two top ranked teams, in the group stage. They lost both matches as they could not withstand the quality of the oppositions. They started the campaign in Brazil with a 2-0 loss to the defending champions, the United States. The team was able to get past Columbia by a single goal but were battered by France 3-0 in the final round of group games.
Lonog made the comment in light of happenings in the last year. after an underwhelming performance at the World Cup. New Zealand finished last in their group as they couldn’t win any match. The funding cut was as much as $150,000, so Longo fears that there would be another funding cut.
“It’s always a possibility. Hopefully, the High Performance people are still behind us. We’re a great side and we are still very young. Football is such an amazing sport and it’s really growing in New Zealand. To see women’s football not being supported would be a real shame,” Longo cried out.
She revealed that a few players would retire, but insisted that the rest of the squad would not be deterred and would carry on. She said the tournament were a great opportunity to meet top players in various teams and compete against the best. Longo has since returned to her club Cashmere Technical club after the Olympics.