WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's women's football team have received a boost ahead of their World Cup final opener against the Netherlands on Tuesday after coach Tom Sermanni was given a contract extension through next year's Tokyo Olympics. The former Australia and United States women's coach enticed several senior players out of retirement and the squad headed to France with high hopes they could reach the knockout stage for the first time. "The past eight months with this team have been both rewarding and enjoyable," Sermanni said in a news release on Saturday. "I've been especially impressed with the focus and desire of the group to continually strive for improvement. Our immediate focus is on the women's World Cup here in France where we are looking to make history by getting out of our group.

Source: The Star June 08, 2019 06:00 UTC