Two stoppage time goals by the Football Ferns snatched a 2-2 draw from the jaws of defeat against Mexico at the Rhein Neckar Arena in Sinsheim on 5 July, as the FIFA Women's World Cup campaigns of both teams drew to a close in dramatic fashion. With 89 minutes on the clock, the Mexicans were poised to record their maiden victory at a FIFA Women's World Cup Finals, but the Football Ferns denied them that pleasure with a gutsy fightback to earn themselves a precious and historic point, New Zealand's first at the women's game's quadrennial showpiece event. Things got off to the worst possible start for the Football Ferns, who found themselves behind on the scoreboard after just 67 seconds. Betsy Hassett was caught in possession by Veronica Perez, with Guadalupe Worbis pouncing on the loose ball and instantly feeding Maribel Dominguez. Mexico's captain steered the ball into the stride of Stephany Mayor, who stormed through the unattended inside-right channel and battered the ball past the exposed figure of Jenny Bindon, beating her all ends up at the near post. With the Football Ferns reeling from this early setback, Mexico went all out for a second goal. A Dominguez pot-shot from 25 yards narrowly cleared the crossbar in the fifth minute, while a vital clearance by Anna Green sixty seconds later denied Perez after a solid six-man interchange around the fringes of New Zealand's penalty area. New Zealand's first chance came in the tenth minute. Hard running and chasing down the right by Ali Riley and Rosie White culminated in the ball breaking to Amber Hearn. She evaded a challenge before lashing wide from twenty yards. This sparked a decent spell from New Zealand, save for the accuracy of the final ball - all too often, it wasn't what it could be. But it was Mexico who went closest to altering the scoreboard during this period, a slick move featuring Kenti Robles, Worbis and Dominguez which culminated in the first-mentioned's cross arcing just beyond the diving figure of Perez. Hayley Moorwood - surprisingly, the first start of the tournament for New Zealand's most capped international - set off on a rampaging run in the 24th minute which came to an abrupt end as the meat in a Mexican sandwich made by Natalie Vinti and Nayeli Rangel. The Football Ferns' previous captain appealed in vain for a justified free-kick, but as she did so, the Mexicans stormed downfield, culminating in Perez finding herself free in the penalty area. Bindon made a splendid parried save of this 25th minute effort, with Rebecca Smith producing  a timely tackle to thwart Dominguez as she looked to turn home the rebound. The Kiwis replied in kind, Smith linking with Riley, whose cross picked out Hearn. She flicked the ball down for White, whose drive was parried by Cecilia Santiago, Mexico's young goalkeeper, who was relieved to see Hearn slam the rebound over the bar with the goal gaping. Hearn featured in New Zealand's next attack, a short free-kick routine which invited Green to whip in an inviting low cross. Abby Erceg was just a stride away from connecting with it. Santiago took the resulting goal-kick, a 29th minute effort which was flicked on past Smith by Rangel for Dominguez, who got goal-side of the defence in a classic route one attack which culminated in her artfully curling the ball home around Bindon into the far corner of the net. Finding themselves 2-0 down was not in the Football Ferns' script. Riley sought to address the problem straight from the kick-off with a cross-shot which landed on the roof of the net. And after she had thwarted Dominguez at the other end of the park, Riley curled a shot narrowly past the far post in the 38th minute, after Green and Moorwood had combined to engineer the opening. Hearn played in Riley two minutes later, but this time Alina Garciamendez stepped in to block her club-mate's attempt to halve the deficit, at the expense of a corner. The Mexican defender then prevented Erceg from heading home White's delivery to the far post, with another corner resulting. This set-piece was delivered by Green, and curled beyond all-comers. Erceg retrieved the ball, cleverly evaded a challenge, then picked out Hassett with a pass which allowed the midfielder to let fly. This, too, was deflected to safety, but referee Jenny Palmqvist - a solid performance - made by her standards a rare error in this match. The goal-kick Mexico took didn't get far, because within seconds Green was rifling a 45-yard free-kick towards the target. Santiago saved smartly to her left to bring to an end a first half which saw New Zealand in the ascendancy at its conclusion, despite trailing by two goals. The second spell, by comparison, was scrappy. There was very little quality football played, with both teams guilty of conceding possession cheaply after stringing together no more than three passes at any one time. The first of the few chances created fell the Football Ferns' way in the 48th minute. Hassett and Riley worked a one-two on the right before the latter crossed for Green. Robles stepped in front of the fullback to clear the danger. Monica Ocampo was the beneficiary of a poor Smith clearance ten minutes later, only to be thwarted in the act of shooting by Riley's despairing challenge. Two more Ocampo efforts from distance followed, with Bindon saving the first of them. The Football Ferns' 'keeper was then found wanting by an Ocampo cross, but Mayor's air-shot, as the ball dropped towards her, summed up the lack of quality evident in the second spell. Gradually, the Football Ferns began to gain the ascendancy, and dominated the last twenty minutes of the match as they desperately sought to end their involvement at Germany 2011 with something to show for their efforts. Substitutes Kirsty Yallop and Hannah Wilkinson had been introduced to the fray by now, and the latter featured in a 71st minute attack which was ignited by Hassett's right wing raid. Wilkinson and Gregorius engineered an opening which was swiftly closed by the intervention of Garciamendez, at the expense of a corner. Yallop's delivery was a gem, right into the danger zone at the near post. It cannoned off a Mexican defender towards the target, but Santiago produced the save of the match to keep the Kiwis at bay. Long-range efforts from Green, substitute Ria Percival and Yallop followed - all were off-target - while five minutes from time a Yallop free-kick picked out the head of Smith, only for New Zealand's captain to head wide from eight yards. Seconds later, Green crossed from the left for Percival, who sent a half-volley flashing over the crossbar, to which Mexico responded with a by now rare raid which saw a free-kick harshly awarded against Smith. Substitute Charlyn Corral's set-piece delivery landed on the roof of Bindon's net.

Time was running out for New Zealand when they forced a corner in the ninetieth minute. Yallop whipped the ball in, and again found the head of Smith, this time six yards out. And this time, she made no mistake - a bullet header which crashed into the net. 2-1, and the Football Ferns with their tails up. Could they do the seemingly unthinkable? Time was all but up when Wilkinson was pole-axed by Vinti's flailing elbow as both leapt for the ball - the striker copped the blow flush in the temple. Referee Palmqvist immediately brought a halt to play, allowing Wilkinson to receive treatment and New Zealand to plan one last assault, arising from the drop ball which would restart play. It did, and as the ball was worked out to Riley, near half-way, Wilkinson was waved back on by the referee, even though she was operating on instinct. As strikers do, she made a bee-line for the penalty area, and arrived bang on cue to receive Riley's cross, control it, and despatch the ball beyond Santiago with what proved to be the very last kick of the game - there wasn't even time to kick off! The Football Ferns celebrated salvaging this 2-2 draw as if they'd won the World Cup itself. And in some ways, they had, because in the circumstances, the recovery was as good as a win - certainly Mexico reacted as if they had lost, and disappointingly failed to acknowledge the crowd's support as they made their exit from Germany 2011. So the stage was New Zealand's, and after treating their Kiwi fans to a very special haka, the Football Ferns lapped up the applause of the 20,451 fans present as they bowed out of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Finals on a genuine high, having made history by deservedly scoring the country's maiden point at this quadrennial women's footballing showpiece. It was the least their efforts at the tournament merited. Mexico:     Santiago; Robles (Saucedo, 81), Garcia, Garciamendez, Vinti; Mayor (Corral, 70), Worbis, Perez, Rangel (Garza, 46), Ocampo; Dominguez Football Ferns:     Bindon; Riley, Smith, Erceg, Green; Moorwood (Yallop, 60), Hoyle, White (booked, 33) (Wilkinson, 55), Hassett (Percival, 79); Hearn, Gregorius Referee:     Jenny Palmqvist (Sweden) POST-MATCH COMMENTS "I thought the fans were great for both sides", said Football Ferns captain Rebecca Smith, "especially at the end of the game. I think when we were 2-0 down and there were five minutes left on the clock, we could hear the crowd cheering us on, and we had the ball up in the Mexican end of the pitch. "I think all the crowds at this World Cup have been fantastic. We really appreciate that as an underdog and a small country coming into a big tournament. We're really thankful for our fans, and for the German fans who've converted to Kiwi fans throughout this tournament. Thankyou for that!" * * * * * "The way we played, we definitely still had belief", said Ali Riley of the situation when the Football Ferns were 2-0 down. "That's something which is a huge part of our team - our belief and our determination, no matter what the odds are, no matter how high-ranking a team we're playing. "2-0 is known in soccer as the most dangerous lead. We experienced that in the Olympics with Japan, and now we've proved again that it's a very dangerous scoreline for the team that's ahead. We had a really good half-time talk, and pumped each other up, and we were able to get those two goals back. "I think we could have won the game if we had scored some of those other opportunities and kept driving. But it's hard to come back, and we did what we could, and got our reward in the very last second of time. We did our best and we're really proud of the result". One of those missed opportunities was a shot Ali fired in the first half, but she drilled it at Alina Garciamendez, her former Stanford University team-mate. "She got in the way! What can I say? It was really good to finally be getting forward and taking shots. "Alina is such a strong defender, and it was good to see her out there playing for her country. I think she's doing a great job for both Stanford and Mexico. It's hard to play against your team-mates, but I'm so proud of her. "I traded jerseys with my other Stanford team-mate, Teresa Noyola, who I played a few years with. We're good friends, and to be able to commiserate with each other at the end of the game, and congratulate each other on a good tournament was special". It was from Ali's cross that New Zealand equalised. "Getting that far forward has been the game plan the whole tournament. But the other teams have been throwing different things at us, and finally everything went to plan. "Obviously they scored those goals and that was a defensive breakdown. Offensively, with Bex's composure, she was able to find me a lot and we didn't give up - that was the biggest thing. "Everyone was driving. Ria Percival came on. She really inspired me. She got the corner kick to score the first goal. Then I figured, just put it in there - there's only a few seconds left. 'Wilky' was in the right place at the right time, and she did a great job to put it away". * * * * * Hannah Wilkinson couldn't wipe the smile off her face after the match, and who could blame her, having scored what she admits is "probably" the best goal of her career to date. But the world's media couldn't hide their concern for the goalscorer as she entered the mixed zone, in light of the blow to her head she suffered immediately prior to her career-defining moment. Their initial questions were "How's the head?" and "Are you aware that you scored a goal?", which drew smiles all round, particularly from the heroine of the hour, who responded in apt tongue-in-cheek manner. "Yeah, my head's all good. As for the goal, I came to after that - it was good! I think that knock to the head kind of cleared my mind and made me relax, I guess. I sort of blacked out for a second - saw some stars. "Our medical team asked me if I was OK. I came to, realised there wasn't much time left and said "I don't want to come off", so casually ran on. I didn't even think about how much time was left - I just thought, "We're going to score". It's 2-1, and as soon as there was that opportunity, all I thought about was just getting the ball in the back of the net. "The ball was just bobbling around, then I just saw the opportunity and took it - right foot. Then it was in, and the game was over. I was in tears after the final whistle, absolutely. It was a dream, surreal, couldn't believe it. It's awesome, absolutely fantastic".