Football Ferns coach Tom Sermanni admits this morning's World Cup loss to the Netherlands was "absolute heartbreak" for his side but there were plenty of positives to take away from it too.
Sermanni told 1 NEWS after this morning's 1-0 loss he felt the game was headed to a goalless draw before the World No.8 side managed to find the back of the net in stoppage time.
"Obviously, at the moment, a great sense of disappointment [and] absolute heartbreak for the girls," Sermanni said.
"Their effort, discipline, commitment and the way they followed the gameplan - everything they did today they couldn't have done any better.
"In football, you never know what the result's going to be but what we could do was give the best effort we could and I thought we did that today."
The coach added the gameplan had been altered to get more attacking chances which led to three big but unconverted opportunities in the match.
"We knew we had to defend very well but we also felt that we now need to start adding a little bit of attack into our game because we do want to win games.
"We don't just want to sit back and absorb a lot of pressure.
"That gives players belief that we can go out there and not just defend but go out there and actually play and create chances."
The Football Ferns' road doesn't get any easier with the side next facing World No.5 Canada on Sunday at 7am NZT in pool play.
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