Tom Sermanni has learnt not to take anything for granted during his four decades in football.

Tom Sermanni's football journey began in Scotland in the 1970s. Since then, it's taken him to England, Australia, Japan, the United States, Malaysia and Canada. Now he's in New Zealand, tasked with leading the Football Ferns to next year's World Cup and providing a steady hand after two years of instability.

The team's immediate objective is winning the Oceania Women's Nations Cup, which starts next Monday, something they should accomplish with ease, given they've never lost to another Pacific Island nation. That would qualify them for the World Cup in France next June, where they are seeking a maiden win and a place in the knockout stage for the first time.

Neither goal will be easy, especially when you consider all that's gone on around the team during the past two years.

Since the Rio Olympics in 2016, there have been the retirements of several senior players; the surprise resignation of coach Tony Readings last November, when there were two years to run on his contract; and the not-so-surprise resignation of coach Andreas Heraf in July, following complaints from a dozen players about his conduct that an independent review later found to be "genuine and largely substantiated".

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While all that was going on, the Ferns played just 11 matches against non-Oceania opposition, well down on the 24 they had during the same period in the previous World Cup cycle. They could add eight or nine more next year, in the runup to the World Cup, should they play in every international window, but there's no guarantee of that, especially when you consider that the purse strings at NZ Football are tightening.

It's just as well then that they have a coach who has seen plenty in his time.

"The first thing I've learned is you can never take anything for granted," Sermanni said this week. "You never quite know how things are going to work out, and there's such a fine margin between winning and losing and it's not always performance based. That's probably the thing that strikes you the most, that you never know how a game is going to go, so you just keep chipping away and doing the best you can."

Sermanni's most notable achievements came during his time in charge of Australia from 2005 to 2012, where they qualified out of Asia for the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, winning matches and making the knockout stages for the first time, the same achievements the Ferns are presently chasing.

Reflecting on how the Matildas got there, Sermanni identified two key factors.

"One was the tightness of the group, the real camaraderie of the group. The second thing was the ability of the players to be on the same page playing well together. Our preparation was about having as much time as possible to get the team together, not necessarily playing internationals, but just getting together. We had a team in 2007 and to a slightly lesser extent in 2011 that had come together for long periods of time and were comfortable playing with each other and who knew how to play with each other."

The Ferns have a core group of players who know each other well, even if they've only been together in fits and spurts over the past two years. Sermanni's task is to ensure they make the most of the limited time they have to prepare for what awaits in France next June, while blooding some fresher faces if and when he can.

"The key is, how can we get a team together so that as a team we're ready to go the World Cup.

PHOTOSPORT Tom Sermanni with former Football Ferns coach Tony Readings in 2013.

"The group of senior players, they've been together for a long time, so they're very, very familiar with each other and the young players that are coming into the team have had good international experience, because they've played at under-17 World Cups, they've played at under-20 World Cups, they've played qualifiers, they've travelled, they've done all those things, and some of them are actually playing overseas themselves.

"You're not talking about a group where a lot of them are leaving NZ for the first time in their lives, so those are positives."

The Ferns will assemble in Auckland on Sunday, ahead of a four-day training camp that begins on Monday, one week out from their Nations Cup opener against Tonga. Sermanni has spoken to captain Ali Riley - who he tried to sign for the last team he coached, the Orlando Pride - but said he is leaving the rest of his introductions until players arrive in camp.

"I thought it's just better that I wait until everybody comes in, because inevitability what I'd do, is I'd try and touch base with people and I'd end up speaking to some and not speaking to others, and they'd be like 'oh, he's spoken to these players, why hasn't he spoken to me?' so I thought it'd be safer to get everybody in and then go from there."

The Ferns will be together for three weeks this month, by far the longest stretch they'll spend together between now and and the World Cup itself. While the results in New Caledonia may appear to be a fait accompli - though none of the players and staff will be taking them for granted - it will be what they achieve there otherwise that sets the tone for the months ahead.

"I've got some thoughts, but they're probably going to change," Sermanni said, when asked if he had a plan for Monday.

"You always go in with a plan but it's like anything, once the battle starts, the plan changes quite quickly. I have an idea of what I want to do, but initially it will be more about observation than direction, having a look at players, having a look at the team, and then trying to work things out from there."

Football Ferns' Nations Cup squad

Goalkeepers: Vic Esson, Erin Nayler, Nadia Olla

Defenders: Liz Anton, CJ Bott, Anna Green, Meikayla Moore, Sarah Morton, Ali Riley, Rebekah Stott

Midfielders: Katie Bowen, Betsy Hassett, Grace Jale, Annalie Longo, Ria Percival, Emma Rolston, Steph Skilton, Malia Steinmetz

Forwards: Sarah Gregorius, Katie Rood, Paige Satchell, Rosie White

Oceania Women's Nations Cup fixtures

Nov 19: Football Ferns v Tonga, 4pm

Nov 22: Football Ferns v Cook Islands, 7pm

Nov 25: Football Ferns v Fiji, 7pm

Nov 28: Semifinals

Dec 1: Final