Events

AUCKLAND – A 79th minute goal from fifteen-year-old wunderkind Rosie White earned the Junior Football Ferns a 1-1 draw with North American champions Canada in the 4-Nations U-20 women’s football tournament in Melipilla, Chile on Friday (NZ time).

At the end of a flowing move that swept down the length of New Zealand’s right hand flank, White produced a tight spin on the edge of the box to get between Canada’s centre backs followed by a cool finish to cancel out Miryam Bouchard’s 71st minute headed opener for Canada.

The draw is just the second time Canada have failed to win in a nine-match unbeaten run that includes a 1-0 win over World Cup favourites USA.

Canada meet Chile – the only other team to take points off them in that period – on Sunday morning to decide the 4-Nations tournament, while New Zealand could climb to second place should they beat Mexico in their final match.

After a 2-1 win over Mexico, Chile currently lead the tournament with six points ahead of Canada (four), New Zealand (one) and Mexico (zero).

All four teams are using the tournament as preparation for the November/December FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile.

Despite achieving what USA could not in the 1-1 draw, New Zealand coach John Herdman is not getting overly excited in what is just his team’s second competitive outing.

“Canada are a good team but we don’t want to get too carried away,” Herdman said.

“We still haven’t got a win yet, and that’s important for us as a team. Until we start winning games we’ve just got to be patient and not get above our station, but it’s a positive result against the North American champions.”

Herdman continued to trial formations and combinations during the match but apart from a flat 20 minutes to end the first half, New Zealand more than matched the Canadians in for possession and territory throughout.

“The good thing is we’ve been able to achieve a result while experimenting, and we’ll continue to experiment against Mexico. I think it’s important that we get a good look at all of these players.”

“We made a lot of changes, but I think we’ve got a lot of young players who, when they click, can foot it with the best of them. Plus players like [senior internationals] Abby Erceg, Katie Hoyle, and Ria Percival who used their experience to make a difference tonight.”

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Melipilla, Chile

New Zealand 1 (Rosie White 79) Canada 1 (Miryam Bouchard 71)

Friday 19 September 2008 (Thursday 18 September local)

Junior Football Ferns: Victoria Esson (GK), Ria Percival (Annalie Longo 85), Abby Erceg, Elizabeth Milne, Anna Green (Bridget Armstrong 46), Hannah Wall, Katie Hoyle, Caitlin Campbell, Rosie White, Renee Leota (Sarah McLaughlin 59), Merissa Smith (Betsy Hassett 46).

Substitutes not used: Charlotte Wood (RGK), Briony Fisher, Grace Vincent

Head Coach: John Herdman