Also in today’s Roundup, the Spirit waive Morgan Proffitt, the International Champions Cup schedule is out, and the former Melissa Barbieri to be an assistant coach at Melbourne City
Abby Erceg is gone, but at least 10 of her former teammates have lodged formal complaints about head coach Andreas Heraf. (photo copyright EriMac Photo for The Equalizer)
At least 10 members of New Zealand’s national team, affectionately known as the Football Ferns, have filed formal complaints about head coach Andreas Heraf. New Zealand Football confirmed the story first reported by The New Zealand Herald.
In a subsequent story in the Herald, the sport’s governing body said it was reviewing the complaints “as a matter of priority.”
New Zealand have had trying times over the last year with captain Abby Erceg retiring from the team on two different occasions due to poor working conditions. Erceg remains away from international play at the moment. The team recently dropped a pair of friendlies, 2-0 to Scotland and 3-1 to Japan and the complaints reportedly stem from comments made by Heraf during that window.
The Football Ferns are overwhelming favorites to reach the World Cup as the lone representative from Oceania. The qualifying tournament begins in November. They have been to the last three World Cups and four overall but have never won a match accruing only three draws from a dozen played.
Spirit waive Morgan Proffitt
The Washington Spirit have waived midfielder Morgan Proffitt. The 23-year old made four appearances for the club covering 197 minutes in her second NWSL season. As a rookie she made seven appearances for the Red Stars who drafted her the 12th overall pick, and an additional three for the Spirit after being claimed on waivers.
Proffitt is expected to join a club in Europe.
In other Spirit news, assistant coach Kati Jo Spisak is being inducted into the Texas A&M Hall of Fame Lettermen’s Association. Spisak was a star goalkeeper at the school and later played professionally for the Washington Freedom in WPS. She has been on the Spirit staff since 2014. The dinner and ceremony are slated for September 14.
ICC schedule set
Tickets for the 2018 International Champions Cup will go on sale Wednesday. For the first time the tournament will feature a women’s event and the NWSL Shield holder North Carolina Courage will be representing North America. The women’s tournament will have its match days on July 26 and 29 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Paul Riley will get to coach the Courage against Paris Saint-Germain in the Women’s International Champions’ Cup in July (Photo copyright Lewis Gettier)
“Truly honored and humbled to have our club represented at such a prestigious event,” Courage head coach Paul Riley said. “The opportunity to play these top European teams is a fantastic chance to show the world the strength, passion and ability that the NWSL possesses. As you can imagine there is a fabulous buzz in our locker room regarding this opportunity, and we will grab it with both hands, put our best foot forward and hopefully give the fans attending a tremendous women’s soccer event.”
The Courage open play against Paris Saint-Germain and then move into either the 3rd Place or championship match. The other semifinal is Lyon against Manchester City. The Courage are likely to be without several key players since the United States and Brazil will be contesting the Tournament of Nations that week.
Melissa Barbieri to be assistant at Melbourne City
Melissa Hudson, better known to fans as Melissa Barbieri during her playing career, will now be an assistant at Melbourne City. The 38-year old has been coaching at Heidelberg United, an association football club near Melbourne. She was last seen on the field two seasons ago when she came out of retirement for a cameo appearance with Melbourne City after Emily Shields broke her wrist.
Hudson will be working under Rado Vidošić who was named head coach this week. Melbourne City has won the Grand Finale all three seasons they have been in the W-League but Vidošić will be their fourth coach.
Hudson was capped 86 times as a goalkeeper by Australia and appeared in four World Cups.
