FIFA U-17 WOMEN&039;S WORLD CUP – YOUNG FERNS CREATE HISTORY

WELLINGTON – A Rosie White hat-trick has given New Zealand an historic 3-1 victory over Colombia on a wet and blustery night at Wellington Stadium. The fifteen year old striker turned in a virtuoso display of clinical finishing as New Zealand secured its first ever win in the finals of a FIFA Women’s World Cup event in front of a vocal crowd of 3546 in the nation’s capital.

It could have been a different story had Colombia’s Ingrid Vidal converted a Tatiana Ariza cross from almost point blank range after just three minutes. The hosts had a heart-in-mouth miss of their own on 20 minutes when Sarah McLaughlin raced through one on one with Colombia goalkeeper Stefany Castano only for the Castano to save McLaughlin’s attempt to score with an outstretched foot.

Colombian midfielder Yorley Rincon proved a constant danger to New Zealand with an array of dazzling skills. The South Americans chief problem was breaching the Young Ferns offside trap. Colombia were caught offside no less than six times during the first-half alone with Briony Fisher and Bridgette Armstrong marshalling the Young Ferns defence expertly.

There were no such issues on 44 minutes when Rosie White broke down Colombia’s left flank and looked set to cross. Instead White elected to shoot at Castano’s near post from the apex of the penalty area. It was an imaginative and audacious effort that skidded viciously on the Wellington Stadium surface, the ball finding a vacant corridor through to goal and beyond the Colombian goalkeeper.

In a first-half that had been so evenly contested it was the type of fortune that had thus far eluded the host nation in its previous two matches and could be considered perhaps long overdue.

The Wellington weather deteriorated rapidly and the conditions suited New Zealand far more than their South American counterparts. New Zealand had the ball in the net on courtesy of Jessica Rollings but the goal was disallowed for offside by the Assistant Referee’s flag. The Young Ferns dominated the opening twenty minutes of the second-half with Hannah Wall, Annalie Longo and Rosie White turning in superb performances.

The introduction of Lauren Mathis proved inspirational with the diminutive midfielder turning in an intelligent and effective performance and level of composure to her team at just the right time. Colombia were starved of chances as the New Zealand defence held firm and it wasn’t until 75 minutes that Pedro Rodriguez’s team saw a sight of goal when the dangerous Tatiana Ariza saw her long range shot go wide of the reliable Victoria Esson.

The Young Ferns – heartbroken by a raft of missed opportunities against Canada and Denmark – were then handed a goal on a plate on 81 minutes when a feeble Natalia Gaitan goal kick ended up at the feet of Rosie White. White sped towards goal and shot from just outside the penalty area before any of the covering defenders could react and put New Zealand two goals to the good.

New Zealand were still basking in the afterglow of White’s devastating finish when less than 40 seconds later Ingrid Vidal latched onto a long ball before side-footing a short pass into the path of Tatiana Ariza who finished from close range with Briony Fisher, Anna Fullerton and Victoria Esson converging a moment too late.

It was a startling moment with the final nine minutes stretching out like days for fans of the host nation with Colombia searching for two goals that would keep their hopes of a quarter-final berth alive. Rincon had another attempt on goal for Colombia that raised the blood pressure of the home fans but it was rendered meaningless when Rosie White completed her hat-trick, writing her name and women’s football into New Zealand football history books with a classy third goal.

The tireless Hannah Wall chased down and won a ball off the Colombian defence before swinging over a pin-point cross for White to head into an empty net with Castano nowhere to be found. It was a superb finish and one worthy of winning any football match. Only days before New Zealand coach Paul Temple said a star had been born when asked about the performance of Rosie White. After tonight’s performance it is the only conclusion to be drawn.

An ecstatic New Zealand coach Paul Temple was delighted with the performance.

"We went into this game trying to do New Zealand proud in the last match, and get what we thought was a deserved win after our performances in the first two games.

And we performed well from the first minute to the last, and dominated the game. I’m absolutely delighted with the performance of the players, and I’m delighted with the win," Temple said.

Colombia coach Pedro Rodriguez lamented the inclement weather but praised the Young Ferns organisation.

"Unfortunately, even before the game, the conditions were very difficult, the wind was oppressively strong.

And this did affect the stability of our team, but New Zealand played a very good game. In fact, they played well in all three games, they are a very well-prepared side," Rodriguez said.

* The win is New Zealand’s first victory in the finals of a FIFA women’s event and only the third win of any type by any Oceanian team competing in any FIFA event since Australia departed the Oceania Football Confederation in 2006.

Solomon Islands defeated Cameroon in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup – Rio de Janeiro 2006 and El Salvador at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup – Marseille 2008.

Images courtesy of Foto-Net and www.fifa.com 

The Young Ferns celebrate with coach Paul Temple – image courtesy of Foto-Net

Annalie Longo wins the ball for New Zealand during its 3-1 win over Colombia – image courtesy of Foto-Net

FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup – New Zealand 2008

Attendance: 3546

NZL: 15. Victoria ESSON [gk]; 3. Rebecca BROWN, 5. Briony FISHER ©; 6. Bridgette ARMSTRONG; 8. Sarah McLAUGHLIN (18. Lauren MATHIS 55’), 9. Hannah WALL; 10. Annalie LONGO; 11. Rosie WHITE; 13. Nadia PEARL, 17. Jessica ROLLINGS (14. Katie BOWEN 78’), 21. Yumi NGUYEN (2. Anna FULLERTON 75’).

Substitutes Not Used: 1. Charlotte WOOD [rgk]; 4. Leah GALLIE; 12. Claudia CRASBORN;16. Megan SHEA; 19. Lauren MURRAY; 20. Danielle McFADYEN.

Yellow cards: None

Red cards: None

Coach: Paul TEMPLE (ENG)

COL: 21. Stefany CASTANO [gk]; 2 Lina TABORDA, 3. Natalia GAITAN, 6. Edna MENDEZ (19. Andréa HERNANDEZ 60’) , 9. Ingrid VIDAL, 10. Yorley RINCON ©, 11. Liana SALAZAR, 13. Gaby SANTOS, 15. Tatiana ARIZA, 16. Paola SANCHEZ (17. Ana Maria MONTOYA 84’), 20. Vanessa APONTE (8. Alejandro QUINTERO 60′).

Substitutes Not Used: 1. Maria ECHEVERRI [rgk], 4. Diana VELEZ, 5. Natalia ARIZA , 7. Nahiomy ORTIZ, 12. Paula FORERO [rgk], 14. Paola BAYONA, 18. Gabriela HUERTAS.

Yellow card
s: 9. Ingrid VIDAL, 32’.

Red cards: None.

Coach: Pedro RODRIGUEZ (COL)

Referee: Etsuko FUKANO (JPN)

Assistant Referee 1: Saori TAKAHASHI (JPN)

Assistant Referee 2: ZHANG Lingling (CHN)

Fourth Official: Thalia MITSI (GRE)

Group A

Final Standings – 04.11.08