The Fifa Women’s World Cup teams in Auckland said they were shocked but safe after a deadly shooting in the centre of the New Zealand city on the opening day of the tournament on Thursday.
A gunman opened fire at a building site just hours before the opening game at the city’s Eden Park between hosts New Zealand and Norway. Two people, plus the shooter, were dead and six wounded.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the showpiece match would go ahead as scheduled but the incident left teams rattled with at least one squad staying nearby.
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“New Zealand Football are shocked by the incident in Auckland this morning,” NZ Football said.
“We can confirm that all of the Football Ferns team and staff are safe.”
Norway’s team hotel was close to where the shooting unfolded but they were unharmed and said “everything is calm in the squad”.
Captain Maren Mjelde said they were woken up by a helicopter and “a large number of emergency vehicles”.
“At first we didn’t know what was going on, but eventually there were updates on TV and the local media,” she said in a statement.
“We felt safe the whole time. Fifa has…
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