NZ Women's World Cup Squad PenPix

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2007 FIFA Women's World Cup Finals

New Zealand Squad Pen Portraits

by Jeremy Ruane

	Rebecca Smith Born 17 June 1981 Debut v. Samoa, 7 April 2003 21 caps, 2 goals Captain	The captain of the squad, the Southern California native is New Zealand's lone female professional footballer at present, and plies her trade with Sunnana SK in the Damallsvenskan. The Duke University graduate played for both FFC Frankfurt and FSV Frankfurt in the Frauen Bundesliga prior to transferring to one of the world's northernmost women's football clubs, and doesn't think twice of travelling the globe to play for the country of her mother's birth. “Bex”'s uncle, Richard Wilson, is a former All Black fullback.
	Maia Jackman Born 25 May 1975 Debut v. Canada, 6 August 1993 37 caps, 11 goals Vice-captain	It is not out of order to describe Maia as a living legend in New Zealand football. She has won just about everything there is to offer in the game, several times over, and has no intention of stopping just yet, as her Western Springs club will testify. Playing professionally for Dalian Shide in the Chinese Women's Super League in 2002 and captaining her country against China two years later were her greatest accolades until this year, when the Whangarei native played for the FIFA Women's World All-Stars team - the first Kiwi women's footballer to be so honoured, and only the second New Zealander (Wynton Rufer is the other) to be named in a FIFA All Stars squad. After she plays her last international for New Zealand - she hopes that will be at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, “MJ” will become the FIFA Women's Football Ambassador for the Oceania region.
	Jenny Bindon Born 25 February 1973 Debut v. Australia, 18 February 2004 12 caps	A native of Belleville, Illinois, she graduated from Lewis University in 2001, the year she married Grant Bindon, the NZ men`s volleyball captain, who she met while studying at Lewis. They moved to NZ soon afterwards, and Jenny commenced work as Nike NZ's Marketing Co-ordinator until taking maternity leave for the birth of their son, Tyler. The squad's 34-year-old “Soccer Mom” has just won back-to-back league titles with her club, Three Kings United.
	Ria Percival Born 7 December 1989 Debut v. China, 14 November 2006 12 caps, 2 goals	The youngest-ever winner of New Zealand's National Knockout Cup Final MVP award, Ria is another of the immensely talented teenage tearaways in the squad who represented their country at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals in Russia a year ago. Equally adept on either flank in an attacking or defensive capacity, the native of Essex, England, moved to New Zealand with her family in 2003, and after satisfying the citizenship requirements was quickly called upon to represent her new homeland. The Lynn-Avon United star her sights set on securing a scholarship in the near future.
	Hannah Bromley Born 15 November 1986 Debut v. Japan, 21 May 2005 4 caps	A six foot tall New Plymouth native, Hannah was named NZ Secondary Schoolgirls Player of the Year in 2004, and studied at Tennessee Tech for two years prior to switching to Central Connecticut this year. “Brommers” has also been playing for SoccerPlus Connecticut in the WPSL, and as well as being highly useful at set-pieces - free-kicks are a speciality, the 20-year-old central defender is also a part-time glamour model.
	Katie Hoyle Born 1 February 1988 Debut v. China, 14 November 2006 9 caps	Another of the baby-faced assassins to graduate from the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals squad, Katie is one of the unsung heroes of the midfield combination, a ninety-minute operator who gets through a tower of work with the minimum of fuss. The Waikato native had still to travel any further afield than Australia by the end of 2005, but the Lynn-Avon United midfield general has seen action in a fair few foreign lands since. “Hoylee” was vice-captain of the Russia 2006 squad.
	Abby Erceg Born 20 November 1989 Debut v. China, 14 November 2006 12 caps, 1 goal	One of six teenagers in the New Zealand squad, Abby is also one of the most talented prospects in the country. Lightning quick, and a classy operator anywhere across the backline, the Whangarei-born Western Springs defender is in her final year at school, and will be a prized catch for any leading NCAA college given her footballing CV. Scoring New Zealand's first goal at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals, in the 3-2 injury time loss to Russia, is something she will always treasure, as is the MVP award from the scoreless draw with Brazil at the same tournament. She was also a finalist in the Junior Sportswoman category at the 2006 Sport Auckland awards.
	Zoe Thompson Born 16 September 1983 Debut v. Australia, 18 February 2004 10 caps, 2 goals	A speedy striker with a nose for goals, she has finished as top scorer in the Northern Premier Women's League during each of the past two seasons, her goals having fired her Three Kings United club to the title in both years. Indeed, she has top-scored for her club in each of the last five seasons she has played. The 2001 New Zealand International Young Player of the Year is a genuine “big game” player at both club and representative levels, invariably coming up with crucial goals in the key matches. A law student, she'll turn 24 during the upcoming Women's World Cup Finals.
	Hayley Moorwood Born 13 February 1984 Debut v. Samoa, 7 April 2003 20 caps, 2 goals	New Zealand's youngest ever captain - aged 21 against Japan in 2005, Hayley is one of the most exciting players this country has ever produced. A very special talent, the 2004 NZ International Young Player of the Year won the highly prestigious Sport Auckland Sportswoman of the Year award in 2005. She has been refining her skills in recent years at both Southwest Baptist University and Virginia Commonwealth University, whom she captained in her final season in 2006, a year after helping them to an all-time-high 28th place in the NCAA Division One rankings. The Lynn-Avon United playmaker has just made a remarkable recovery from knee surgery, her first-ever injury setback. The operation took place in mid-June, following the Canadian series, and she was back in time for New Zealand's next internationals, in Australia during the third week of July.
	Wendi Henderson Born 16 July 1971 Debut v. Hawaii, 12 December 1987 55 caps, 16 goals	The veteran of the squad at 36, “Weed”'s story is all the more remarkable given injury forced her retirement from playing at the end of the 2003 season. She was co-coach of the New Zealand squad which twice played the USA in October 2004, and appeared destined to continue her involvement in the game in that capacity. But the itch to play again proved too great to resist, and she came out of retirement at the start of the 2006 season, never expecting that she would get to add to the 48 appearances she had made for her country. The absence of experience among a largely youthful squad meant otherwise, however, and Wendi marked her return to the world stage by captaining New Zealand against China last November, a two-match series which saw the Upper Hutt City star become just the second female to represent New Zealand on fifty occasions.
	Annalie Longo Borm 1 July 1991 Debut v. China, 14 November 2006 7 caps	The baby of the team, having just turned sixteen in July, “Flea” is one of New Zealand's most gifted players, and is eligible to play at the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals which New Zealand will host in 2008. Having played at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals last year, such is her talent that it is not beyond the realms of possibility for Annalie to be the first player in the world to play in all four major women's football finals - China in September and the 2008 Beijing Olympics being the other events. She has already been approached by US universities with scholarship offers, even though she is still in fifth form at Epsom Girls Grammar School. In between her studies and her football, the Three Kings United star was also a final nominee for the National Young Performer of the Year for Tap-Dancing in 2006.
	Marlies Oostdam Born 29 July 1977 Debut v. Australia, 24 March 1996 21 caps	A native of Haarlem, Holland, Marlies is naturally left-footed, and is equally adept in defence or midfield. Captain of Auckland's “A Team”, the country's champion provincial side, she made a successful comeback to the national team after a five-year absence, part of which was spent as a purser on Caribbean passenger liners! She also played for Dutch club team VV Ter Leede while abroad, and has also played in the short-lived Australian women's national league competition, for Victoria Vision. Since returning home, “DutchyMar” has immersed herself in the family's nursery business, while playing for Eastern Suburbs.
	Stephanie Puckrin Born 22 August 1979 Debut v. Tonga, 9 April 2007 1 cap	It's taken a long time for Steph to make the breakthrough at international level, but at this year's Oceania Women's World Cup qualifying tournament, she finally got to wear the silver fern she has long coveted. A helicopter pilot by trade, a combination of ill-timed injuries and New Zealand's lengthy absences from the world stage since she first came to prominence in Auckland's “A Team” at the 1998 National Tournament have greatly contributed to this situation, but the Lynn-Avon United number one is now making up for lost time.
	Ali Riley Born 30 October 1987 Debut v. Australia, 4 February 2007 8 caps	Currently studying at Stanford University, rocket-heeled Ali burst onto the New Zealand scene at the start of 2006, after her US-based Kiwi-born father enquired about the prospects of the Pacific Palisades native representing the country of his birth. The talented teenager made her mark in no uncertain terms, as winner of both the NZ International Player and Young Player of the Year awards, the first player to win both awards to crown a year in which she was one of our most exciting players at the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals.
	Simone Carmichael Born 7 June 1977 Debut v. Canada, 31 May 2000 18 caps, 7 goals	Think of a career-threatening injury, and chances are Simone has recovered from it over the course of the last decade. New Zealand football's very own bionic woman has defied medical forecasts once again to make the squad for China, the Howick-born midfield dynamo having just recovered from a snapped Achilles tendon. A dislocated shoulder, ACL and MCL injuries … and amidst all these hospital visits, the 2005 International Women's Player of the Year became a “Soccer Mom” a year ago this month. All this, and football too, be it for New Zealand, as a professional for Shanghai TV in the 2002 Chinese Women's Super League or, most recently, for Ajax America, her Women's Premier Soccer League club.
	Emma Humphries Born 14 June 1986 Debut v. China, 14 November 2006 5 caps	Making a comeback from injury to the national squad, Emma - “Giggles” to her friends - is another graduate of the Russia `06 combination, and was on the score sheet against the host nation in that tournament which marked New Zealand's return to the world stage. The Wellington-born midfielder/striker has been plying her trade at Cal. State Fullerton in recent years, before switching colleges to Coastal Carolina University, where she is majoring in kinesiology.
	Rebecca Tegg Born 18 December 1985 Debut v. Australia, 19 July 2007 3 caps	The “bolter” in the squad, given she made her debut as recently as July, Rebecca is fast closing in on a century of goals for her club, Eastern Suburbs, but has only recently come to the attention of the national selectors, despite her achievements at provincial level in particular. The leading markswoman in both the 2005 and 2006 National Women's League campaigns for Auckland's “A Team”, she was named Player of the Year in the 2005 campaign, one which also saw “Teggy” finish as the Golden Boot winner at the World University Games, where she helped New Zealand to a best-ever ninth placing.
	Priscilla Duncan Born 19 May 1983 Debut v. Samoa, 7 April 2003 15 caps, 1 goal	The only two-time winner of New Zealand's International Young Player of the Year award (2002-3), Priscilla is currently studying journalism at the Auckland University of Technology, after having completed a scholarship at Southwest Baptist Missouri. A tough-tackling, ball-playing midfielder with Western Springs, “Cil” played for West Michigan Fire in last season's W-League competition, then headed straight to Denmark to play for SoenderjyskElitesport A/S, where she scored seven goals in a championship-winning combination.
	Emily McColl Born 1 November 1985 Debut v. Solomon Islands, 11 April 2007 6 caps	Emily won't be allowed to forget her international debut, not that she can recall much about it. Twenty minutes after coming on as a substitute against the Solomon Islands in the Oceania Women's World Cup qualifying series, she collapsed due to heatstroke, and required treatment in a Papua New Guinea hospital. A member of the NZ Universities squad which performed with distinction at the 2005 World University Games in Turkey, she has been studying at Coastal Carolina University in recent years, and made the 2006 ESPN Magazine-sponsored Academic All-District Second Team. She's also been playing for Coco Expos in the W-League.
	Merissa Smith Born 11 November 1990 Debut v. China, 14 November 2006 6 caps	The other sixteen-year-old in the squad, Merissa scored with her very first touch in international football, coming off the bench to strike the winning goal for the NZ U-20s against River Plate last June, the first-ever victory on South American soil by any New Zealand team. The jet-heeled youngster is still over a year away from finishing her schooling, and has recovered well from a close-season shoulder operation to cement her place in the senior national squad, while helping Three Kings United win back-to-back Northern Premier Women's League titles.
	Rachel Howard Born 30 November 1977 Debut v. USA, 30 May 1998 12 caps	Wellington-born Rachel was denied the opportunity to represent New Zealand at this year's Oceania Women's World Cup qualifying series upon receiving news of a family bereavement on the morning the squad's flight was due to depart for Papua New Guinea. The Munich-based Associate Brand Manager for Adidas plies her trade in the Frauen Bundesliga for TSV Crailsheim, while the 29-year-old marked her international debut with the MVP award when New Zealand played the USA in a match televised on ESPN, at Washington DC's RFK Stadium in front of 46,037 fans on 30 May, 1998.

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup Finals