Former Italian women's captain Caroline Morace told an audience in Dunedin she was determined the next generation of female players would have more opportunities than she did.
Morace appeared on stage before football faithful at John McGlashan College with former Football Fern Michelle Cox as part of the Official Fifa Ambassadors Tour to give a talk on the future of women's football.
She will hold a coaching session with several elite junior female players from around the Otago region today.
"If Fifa asked me to do anything to help New Zealand football, I would do so instantly," she said after the talk.
"The country here is so beautiful, and the people are so friendly. And as an Italian, I know about these things."
Morace began her international career at the age of 14.
Over 15 years she scored 105 goals in 150 games for Italy.
She is the only woman in the world with the highest certification in professional coaching.
She said it had only recently become easy for women to get acknowledged in the sport. "When I began, there weren't the opportunities that there are now, especially in Italy, where it is dominated by the men's game."
She became the first woman to coach a men's professional team in Europe when she took over Viterbese in 1999.
Morace, who admires the work of Jose Mourinho (Inter Milan) and Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United), said changes in coaching had led to increased skills at the top women's level.
"It's important to start very simple. Some coaches want their young players to play matches against one another all the time in training, and that's OK, but then how many times will a back get the chance to practise shooting at a goal?
"You have to make sure everyone has all-round skills."
While many international teams preferred the long-ball game, she preferred more close-style passing.
"The long-ball game is fine, but the close passing is more compact," she said.
"It requires a lot more skill, and players have to be flexible, but I think it looks beautiful."
She could not pick a winner for the Fifa Under-17 Women's World Cup.
"It's so hard to tell at this level, because there are so many cycles of young players coming through. There are no dominant teams."
The Fifa Under-17 Women's World Cup runs from October 28-November 16.
Matches will be played in Christchurch, Hamilton, Wellington and Auckland.
