Most of New Zealand's attention at the World Cup so far has been on the Football Ferns.
The Kiwis have captivated the world having upset Norway to win their first ever game at the World Cup and to make it even sweeter winning on home soil.
While most of the attention will still be on the Football Ferns, Thursday night's clash in Wellington between the USA and Netherlands will be just as captivating — the two sides meeting in a replay of the 2019 World Cup final when the USA won 2–0.
American star Alex Morgan told the media in Auckland today there was no hiding from the Football Ferns' success.
"We were all watching and I think all of New Zealand was watching that. We looked outside of our hotel and saw a lot of TV's around the city, from what we can see outside the window, of people watching as well," Morgan said.
World champions can’t miss hype for local heroes (Source: 1News)
The world champion Americans are based in downtown Auckland for the tournament and noticed the buzz around the city.
"It was exciting to see I think there is a lot of buzz as well, being in Auckland and just seeing the excitement around the city and for New Zealand to get their first win ever in a World Cup, you could see how much it means to so many of those players, to Ali Riley to Ria Percival, the emotions that they showed, the tears of joy, it was really great to see," Morgan said.
The USA's title defence got off to a winning start with a 2-0 victory over Vietnam at Eden Park.
But Thursday night's clash against the Dutch could decide who tops Group E.
"We approach every game like it's the biggest game. This game is no different but we have played Netherlands historically in very important matches. This is going to be an incredibly difficult match-up, very challenging, we watched the Netherlands the other night and they have a lot of the same players as we played them in the World Cup four years ago.
"This is going to be a very big match-up," Morgan said.
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