Three goals in an eight-minute spell either side of half-time killed off the Young Ferns' faint hopes of advancing to the knockout stages of the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals on October 22, as they slumped to a 4-0 loss at the hands of Ecuador at the Cibao FC Stadium in Santiago de Los Caballeros. The South Americans dominated proceedings for the bulk of the contest, first threatening in the third minute when Caprice Chiuchiolo unleashed an acute-angled shot which was spilled by Brooke Neary, who was grateful to see Charli Dunn reacting quickest of anyone to clear off the line. New Zealand's response materialised three minutes later, Pia Vlok charging out of her own half of the field before carrying on running after slipping the ball to Ela Jerez, whose return pass played Vlok in on goal. Ecuador's goalkeeper, Maria Rodriguez, anticipated the danger, however, and blocked at the midfielder's feet. That early shot across the bows prompted "La Tricolor" to go through the gears, and the rest of the half was dominated by the Ecuadorians. Captain Fiorella Pico sent a twenty-five yarder sizzling low past the diving Neary's left-hand post in the eleventh minute, while the goalkeeper spilled a thirty-yarder from Chiuchiolo two minutes later, only to be saved by the offside flag being raised as Jaslym Valverde looked to open the scoring from the rebound. A stray Alyssha Eglinton pass from the resulting free-kick saw Domenica Arboleda say "Thankyou very much", only for Neary to reply in kind when the midfielder directed her shot straight into the goalkeeper's grateful gloves. Neary then did well to tip a dipping attempt by Chuichiolo over the bar in the nineteenth minute after the creative midfielder had turned Mikaela Bangalan inside out while engineering the space from which she let fly. Next, it was Mary Guerra's turn to lead the attack, the diminutive - she's only 149cm tall - winger cutting in off the right before switching play to Arboleda on the opposite flank. She fed the overlapping Scarlet Garaicoa - a terrific performance in both defence and attack - and the fullback's shot was parried by Neary in the 22nd minute. The Young Ferns mounted a rare attack on the half-hour, Grace Bartlett getting the better of the otherwise-well-performed Noemi Camacho before unleashing a rising drive which Rodriguez tipped round the post. Normal service soon resumed, however, Eglinton diverting another Chiuchiolo effort round the post before Neary grabbed another twenty-five yarder from Arboleda, from whose pass Valverde found herself in the penalty area six minutes before half-time. The striker fired in a cross which Hannah Saxon cleared via the far post before swiftly recovering to block Guerra's attempt to break the deadlock. New Zealand's stubborn resistance was finally broken two minutes later. Vlok was caught in possession by Guerra, who worked a one-two with Pico before rolling a pass into the stride of Arboleda, racing in off the left. Her unerring low drive flew beyond Neary into the far corner of the net - 1-0. Within two minutes, Ecuador had doubled their lead. Guerra's progress was challenged by Vlok, but the winger managed to evade both the midfielder

and Saxon before playing the ball through to Chiuchiolo. Without breaking stride, she rifled the ball over Neary's head into the far corner of the net, a goal which left the Young Ferns with a mountain to climb in the second half if they harboured hopes of retrieving the situation. Those hopes took just four minutes to evaporate. Half-time substitute Emily Humphrey gave the ball away in midfield, and Chiuchiolo wasted little time in making the most of the gift, evading a couple of challenges before blasting the ball home over Neary from twenty yards - 3-0, game over. Except it wasn't, as Ecuador had designs on running up a massive scoreline. Guerra and Evelyn Burgos combined neatly to play in Valverde in the 54th minute, only for Neary to save at her feet. Three minutes later, Burgos split the defence with a gem of a pass to play in Guerra, whose shot beat Neary all ends up, only to crash against the far post. The Young Ferns had futile penalty claims rightly dismissed in the 63rd minute when Katie Pugh tangled with Nataly Andrade in Ecuador's penalty area, to which "La Tricolor" responded eight minutes later via the combination of Burgos and Arboleda, the latter turning past Humphrey before charging into the area and luring Neary out of goal, at which point she unselfishly set up Valverde for a gift goal. At least, it should have been. But Valverde, who was around six yards out from goal, was flat-footed, and watched the ball roll across her path and out of play as if it was a passing bus heading to a destination different to that to which she was bound. Needless to say, coach Eduardo Moscoso wasted little time in withdrawing the fourteen-year-old frontrunner from the fray soon afterwards. After Pugh's determined pursuit of Jerez's raking ball forward had seen Rodriguez pluck the ball off her toes, Arboleda slammed a shot into the side-netting before Ecuador finally got their fourth goal eleven minutes from time courtesy Dariana Moran, Valverde's replacement thrashing a twenty-yarder into the bottom far corner of the net after combining with fellow substitute Emily Fierro. A decent wee spell of Young Ferns pressure followed this goal, with Natalie Young stinging the gloves of Rodriguez five minutes from time. Cue another raft of Ecuadorian attacks, with Neary keeping out efforts from Burgos - a free-kick, Arboleda - a twenty-yarder which she tipped over the bar - and substitute Xiomara Alcivar. In between these efforts, another Burgos effort sizzled past the diving figure of Neary and the far post, while the last act of note in the match saw an error by Pico pounced on by Jerez, who got in between two defenders before looking to set up Laura Bennett for a tap-in. Ecuador cleared their lines, however, and were soon celebrating their progress into the quarter-finals as group runners-up, while the Young Ferns once more made an early exit from the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals, their time in the Dominican Republic at an end after their three group games. Ecuador:     Rodriguez (Palacios, 86); Camacho, Zambrano, Andrade (Carabali, 86), Garaicoa; Burgos, Chiuchiolo (Briones, 75), Pico; Guerra (Fierro, 75), Valverde (Moran, 75), Arboleda Young Ferns:     Neary; Sawkins (Humphrey, 46), Dunn (booked, 88), Eglinton, Saxon (Bennett, 46); Vlok (Morgan, 60), Bangalan (Loxton, 46), Young; Pugh, Jerez, Bartlett (Brown, 77) Referee:     Le Thy Li (Vietnam)