Aroon Clansey supports Olympic Games
18th June 2012
New Zealand Goalkeeper backing her country
Liverpool Ladies’ New Zealand-born goalkeeper is backing her country to secure their first victory in the Olympic Games.
The Football Fearns, as the team is nicknamed, lost all three games in their first Olympic Games in 2008 in China and this year has been drawn in the same group as Great Britain, Brazil and Cameroon.
Tickets are available for their match against Cameroon at the City of Coventry Stadium on Tuesday, July 31, at 7.45pm by logging on to www.tickets.london2012.com
Aroon Clansey, who joined Liverpool in February, said the match in Coventry would be the first time New Zealand will have faced Cameroon on the international stage.
The five-times capped international said: “African teams are really strong and physical and I guess it will be one of those games where we will be looking to get players in as much as possible and hopefully get a result against Cameroon.
“We know what to expect from Brazil because we have played them a couple of times before and we played England in the last World Cup in Germany when we lost 2-1 but playing Great Britain will be entering the unknown because they will maybe play some different players to normal.
“We play high up the field and try to cause our opposition as many problems as we can. We try to press them and play the ball around. We have a really fit team and a never-say-die attitude.
“There are two players in particular that spectators should look out for in our team. Ali Riley is a really good defender with a lot of pace who plays in Sweden and striker Amber Hearn plays in the German Bundesliga and she has plenty of experience since she played in our three matches in the last Olympic Games.”
Twenty-five-year-old Aroon made the 12,000 mile trip to England earlier this year when she joined Women’s Super League Liverpool from Australian W-League champions Canberra United.
Her family hails from Merseyside and she has enjoyed her debut season playing in England, but currently her thoughts are focused on earning a place in the New Zealand squad for London 2012.
Aroon said: “I’ve never been to Coventry before and I’m hoping when the squad is announced in the next month that I am included.
“In the last Olympic Games in China we didn’t win a game but we didn’t play too badly. Results-wise the team will be aiming to do better in this tournament.”
Tickets are available for the London 2012 Olympic Football Tournament, including matches at the City of Coventry Stadium. View the full competition schedule by visiting www.tickets.london2012.com
More information on hospitality packages for Olympic Football matches at the City of Coventry Stadium is available by emailing loft@ccfc.co.uk
PICTURE CAPTION: Aroon Clansey, whose country New Zealand will be playing at the City of Coventry Stadium during the Olympic Games
