Led by coach Leon Birnie, the 19-player squad will travel to Nuku’alofa in Tonga at the end of this month with the group including players from multiple parts of the New Zealand Football pathway; current and former U-17 and U-20s players, ASB Women’s League representatives as well as Football Ferns.
At the top of that list are Football Ferns Jasmine Pereira and Daisy Cleverley who, along with Isabella Coombes and Emma Rolston, were members of the Women’s U-20 side which made history in reaching the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada in 2014.
Eight of Birnie’s squad were part of last year’s Women’s U-17 side which competed at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Costa Rica and Birnie says the blend of players is a point of interest for this group.
“It’s a very exciting mix,” Birnie said, “we’ve got six players who previously played in the last U-20s qualifiers in the last cycle and we’ve got a number of players who were involved in the U-17s in the last cycle.
“We’ve got a handful of players that have really developed and pushed on over the last 18 months so they are coming in for the first time into the New Zealand environment. We’ve also identified players who are in this cycle’s U-17s that we’d like to come into the U-20s environment for their development.”
Birnie said the process which has led to Friday’s team announcement has been thorough with a number of national and regional camp and game opportunities for players to push their case for selection.
“Around April we started the identification process and we had a camp in July. We invited 43 players into that camp and we wanted to make sure we gave all the players the opportunity to be identified.
“After that I went around the country to all the federations and we had observation games which gave all the players that were not identified for the camp another opportunity.”
Before leaving for Tonga, Birnie said the group will have a two-day camp in Auckland where the team will continue to work on developing their system and philosophy which will be tested by the island nations.
“We expect some good games over there and I think the players will be posed with some problems they will need to work through and resolve,” Birnie said.
“I think traditionally from watching footage and talking to previous coaches, a lot of the teams like to get numbers behind the ball and form a compact defensive block. That will give our players the opportunity to work through some solutions to try and break that down.
“We’d like to see a professional display on and off the field from the girls and continue to work on our style of play which is linked in with the Ferns.
“If we can combine those two factors then hopefully at the end of the tournament we’ll get the desired outcome.”
Birnie expects the top level experience of the likes of Pereira, Cleverley and Coombes – who also toured with the Football Ferns in 2014 – will play a key role in his side.
“Their experience and what they can pass on from previous tournaments and qualifying is invaluable and we’ll be looking for them to take leadership roles within the environment and share those experiences with the players and the whole group will be better for that.”
The Women’s U-20 campaign kicks off on October 1 against Tonga.
New Zealand Women’s U-20 squad – OFC Women’s U-20 Championship
1-10 October
Loto-Tonga Soka Centre, Nuku’alofa, Tonga
Goalkeepers
Una Foyle – Coastal Spirit FC, NZ
Tessa Nicol-Brenssell – Otago University AFC, NZ
Defenders
Elizabeth Anton – Lynn-Avon Utd AFC, NZ
Geena Gross – Nelson Suburbs FC, NZ
Samantha Murrell – Roslyn Wakari, NZ
Sarah Morton – Massey University, NZ
Amber Phillips – Massey Unversity, NZ
Eileish Hayes – Claudelands Rovers, NZ
Sophie Stewart-Hobbs – Three Kings Utd, NZ
Midfielders
Daisy Cleverley – Forrest Hill Milford Utd AFC, NZ
Isabella Coombes – Claudelands Rovers, NZ
Isabella Richards – Three Kings Utd, NZ
Grace Jale – Eastern Suburbs AFC, NZ
Mikayla Wieblitz – Cashmere Technical, NZ
Forwards
Jasmine Pereira – Three Kings Utd, NZ
Paige Satchell – Claudelands Rovers, NZ
Michaela Roberston – Wellington Utd, NZ
Emma Rolston – Forrest Hill Milford Utd AFC, NZ
Emma Main – Upper Hutt City FC, NZ
Coach: Leon Birnie
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football