New Zealand marks 1 month to Women’s World Cup with match near Mount Cook

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand has marked the one month countdown to the start of the Women’s World Cup by creating a full-size football pitch in the shadow of the country’s highest mountain Aoraki Mount Cook. The 105-meter long, 68-meter wide (114 yards by 74 yards) pitch was built on the tussocky plains of the McKenzie Country in front of the 3,724-meter (12,217-foot) mountain on which Sir Edmond Hillary trained for his successful assault on the summit of Mount Everest. New Zealand and Australia are co-hosting the Women’s World Cup which kicks off on July 20.