It all began with a ball, a brother and a broken foot.
Now one of her nation’s most experienced players, if it wasn’t for that formative family experience, things could’ve turned out very differently for Papua New Guinea’s Yvonne Gabong, as she explains to FIFA.
“I was with my younger brother, I guess we were around nine or ten, taking turns shooting and going in goal. He was standing in the goalmouth and when I shot, he broke his foot.
“He forgives me now but that was how things really began, when I was first getting into football.”
Gabong is aiming to graduate from breaking bones to breaking opposition hearts as Papua New Guinea begin their quest to qualify for a maiden edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™.
In a region where New Zealand have long dominated, others have often been fighting to keep pace with the Football Ferns and in recent times the closest challenger has been the team known as the Bilums.
In qualification for China 2007, Papua New Guinea finished as bridesmaids behind the Kiwis. Ditto in the preliminaries for Germany 2011 and Canada 2015. With New Zealand co-hosting the previous edition, that saw PNG come even closer as they collected Oceania’s lone berth to the Play-Off Tournament. There they again came within touching distance of a tournament debut, falling 2-0 to Panama in the play-off semis.
Present through many of those campaigns has been 29-year-old Gabong who admits she’s fed up with playing second fiddle to the Ferns and is ready to steer the Bilums to Brazil.
“That is the dream for all of us. For all the ladies who have come before us, we are trying to make sure we go one step further. Going to the World Cup is the ultimate dream and one that has been with us through all those years. To qualify, simply, would be that dream coming true.”
Stationed at 60 on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking, behind only New Zealand in Oceania, Papua New Guinea is a nation very much on the rise. That started in 2016 when Gabong, along with several of her current senior teammates, was part of the side that hosted the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™.
A maiden triumph six years later in the OFC Women’s Nations Cup continued that growth and has steeled the side with a belief that the Women’s World Cup is now very much within reach.
“After the Nations Cup win, we’ve seen a lot of development and a lot of interest in the team. That in turn has inspired a lot of girls to play football and look to continue the legacy that women’s football has set for the country,” Gabong explains.
“Coming here now to the qualifiers, there’s a sense that everybody is ready, working together with the same goal and dream and we believe that we can make it to the World Cup.”
For the first time, the OFC is conducting a standalone qualification tournament, separate from the Nations Cup, to settle the region’s Women’s World Cup allocation. The second of three rounds gets under way this week in the Solomon Islands and Fiji.
With the top two nations from each of the four-team sections qualifying for April’s final round, competition is expected to be fierce. Drawn in Group B, PNG will tussle with their Fijian hosts as well as Vanuatu and New Caledonia in a bid to take the next step towards earning the OFC’s lone direct berth to Brazil 2027.
Even with a second place potentially available for an Oceania nation via the Play-Off Tournament, Gabong is keenly aware just how competitive things will be.
“Everyone wants to qualify for the World Cup and although we know it won’t be easy, we’ve been training and preparing now for the past couple of weeks.
“I’m sure all the teams are entering with the same goal of competing for those spots but we’re ready, we’re prepared and going all out to top the group.”
Away from football, Gabong likes to unwind by hiking, especially on her nation’s famed Kokoda Track. The 96-kilometre long trail is a gruelling test of endurance and perseverance, and completing it holds many parallels to the nation’s ongoing mission to qualify for football’s grandest stage.
Until that mission is complete, Gabong will continue to turn up, wear her nation’s colours with pride and strive to put PNG on the global map.
“I thought that if we qualify then I can retire after Brazil but I can’t give up until we reach the World Cup. Football runs in my family, with my father having also represented Papua New Guinea and I’ve been playing for the national team since I was 18.
“With that seniority now comes an expectation and pressure but coming here to the qualifiers is our opportunity to reach the World Cup.
“I feel both excited and emotional at the same time because coming overseas to another country and listening to your national anthem, it brings a lot of emotions. It makes you think of why you are here in the first place and that is to make sure we reach the World Cup.
“I can’t stop until we achieve that goal, that’s the reason why I keep coming back and this time I really believe that we can qualify. Maybe then, when we do that, I can also buy my brother some new boots!”
Selected images courtesy of Papua New Guinea Football Association
