New Zealand’s Young Ferns bowed out of the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals in ignominious fashion on September 13, capitulating 6-0 at the hands of Japan in their final group match at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Scarborough, Tobago. The heaviest defeat ever inflicted on a New Zealand women’s team at a FIFA Finals was, sadly, deserved, because apart from the first five minutes, and some sporadic moments throughout proceedings, the Young Ferns looked decidedly flat and desperately short of vim and vigour - it appeared, at times, as if they were all played out and had nothing left to give physically. Substitute Kate Carlton brought with her some much needed spark and passion following her entrance to the fray early in the second half, but by that stage too few of her team-mates had the strength left to match their desire to fight for the cause, the 32C heat having sapped the Young Ferns’ energy levels to such a degree that, while the spirit was willing individually and collectively, they were running on empty long before the final whistle. Going into the match needing to win it by four goals to have any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals, the Young Ferns started brightly enough, forcing a couple of corners and denying Japan the possession they coveted inside the first five minutes. Slowly but surely, however, Young Nadeshiko, as the Japanese U-17 squad is known, began to gain the upper hand, their first shot across New Zealand’s bows coming in the seventh minute from Kumi Yokoyama, who saw her twenty-yarder turned round the post by Jess Reddaway, a late replacement for fellow ‘keeper Chloe-May Geurts, who injured her shoulder before the match. The hard-working Haruna Kawashima joined Yokoyama in rattling the hoardings from distance soon after, and following a spell of broken play in which neither side was able to retain possession for more than thirty seconds at a time, the lively Yokoyama set off on a solo raid past three opponents which culminated in Reddaway parrying then smothering her twenty yard drive. Kate Loye, the Young Ferns’ only goalscorer at the Finals, fired a thirty-yarder over the bar in response soon after, one of two occasions in the first half when New Zealand threatened to trouble the scoreboard operator. Japan certainly did, taking the lead with their next attack of consequence, in the 24th minute. Yume Nagasawa’s angled ball forward from half-way was allowed to bounce by Young Ferns’ captain Katie Bowen, with fateful consequences. Yokoyama was onto the opportunity in a flash, and jinked inside the recovering fullback before blasting the ball into the top right-hand corner of Reddaway’s net - 1-0. New Zealand’s ‘keeper was responsible for ensuring that remained the scoreline four times in the next ten minutes, as Young Nadeshiko looked to build on their hard-earned advantage. Reddaway was perfectly place to foil Mina Tanaka’s flick in the 27th minute, after Kawashima’s corner had been flicked on by attack-minded fullback Haruka Hamada to Yokoyama, who volleyed the ball into the goalmouth. The Young Ferns’ custodian then thwarted Mai Kyokawa with her legs inside the goal area, after Hamada, Mina Tanaka and the eye-catching Yoko Tanaka had prised open the Kiwi rearguard on Japan’s right in the 29th minute. Two minutes later, Reddaway fumbled Kyokawa’s twenty-five yard free-kick, but was able to recover before Yoko Tanaka could pounce on the rebound, while she saved a shot from Kawashima in the 33rd minute, after Sivitha Boyce had thwarted Kyokawa’s attempts to do justice to the combined work of the Tanakas on the right. Two minutes later, Reddaway fumbled Kyokawa’s twenty-five yard free-kick, but was able to recover

before Yoko Tanaka could pounce on the rebound, while she saved a shot from Kawashima in the 33rd minute, after Sivitha Boyce had thwarted Kyokawa’s attempts to do justice to the combined work of the Tanakas on the right. Hiroshi Yoshida’s charges continued to press, Kyokawa going close with a curling effort before Reddaway made a meal of a tame shot from Hamada, bundling the ball round the post for an inswinging Yoko Tanaka corner which was cleared off the line by Hannah Wong, who was perfectly placed on the far post to deal with such a threat. The final act of the first half saw the Young Ferns threaten an equaliser. Reddaway’s raking free-kick downfield was turned by Hannah Carlsen - her first appearance in the Finals - to Holly Patterson, who ran at the defence and wriggled between two challenges before lashing a low drive narrowly past the far post. Japan started the second half like a house on fire, Reddaway forced to tip a Mina Tanaka shot round the post just one hundred seconds after the resumption, the midfielder having worked a one-two on the edge of the penalty area with Kyokawa. Two minutes later, Kawashima should have done better when sent clear through the inside left channel by Yokoyama, the striker slicing her shot into the side-netting when bearing down on goal with Reddaway to beat, and Tessa McPherson closing fast. After Carlton’s introduction, the Young Ferns played with a dash more pep and vigour for a few minutes, but their collective heart was torn apart by the Japanese just before the hour mark, as the Asian team struck twice in ninety seconds to confirm their passage into the quarter-finals. Yokoyama supplied the first dagger thrust, scything inside from the left flank and past three challenges across the top of the penalty area before thrashing an angled shot across the diving Reddaway and into the top far corner of the net - a cracking 58th minute strike which would have graced any game. With the Young Ferns stunned from this body blow, Young Nadeshiko twisted the knife ninety seconds later. Yoko Tanaka surged through the inside right channel from half-way and checked inside a couple of defenders before arrowing a crisply struck twenty-yarder into the bottom left-hand corner of Reddaway’s goal - 3-0. There was no way back for the Young Ferns now, although Rebecca Burrows, one of the few Kiwis to catch the eye in this generally forgettable display, offered some resistance in the 66th minute. Muscling her way through a couple of challenges, she unleashed a dipping twenty yard drive which forced Japan’s captain, goalkeeper Eri Hirao, to fling herself to her left and tip the ball over the bar. The resulting corner from the generally subdued Olivia Chance was cleared, and Japan suddenly had a counter-attack on the go, led by substitute Chika Kato. She slipped fellow front-runner Kawashima through the inside left channel, but the striker was destined not to score in this match, the outstretched leg of Reddaway denying her on this occasion. Japan were firing on all cylinders now, and only a despairing lunge by substitute Jessie Mathews denied Mina Tanaka in the 69th minute, after a Yoko Tanaka corner wasn’t cleared. Two minutes later, Kawashima’s sharp turn and pass presented Mina Tanaka with another chance to score, but this time her shot on the run fizzed over the crossbar. She wasn’t to be denied, however, and in the 74th minute, gained her due reward. Mathews gave the ball away in midfield, and Mina Tanaka was onto it in a flash. She set sail for goal, sweeping past four players en route before clinically burying a beauty precisely into the bottom right-hand corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area. The Young Ferns tried to muster a response, with Boyce unable to control her volley following a

corner from Loye, who herself went close with a shot on turn which crept narrowly past the far post in the 83rd minute. Patterson, meanwhile, ran her heart out for the cause, and was still looking to take on opponents in the later stages of the contest, even though it was clear she was struggling to find the energy and strength to do so. Supporting runs from team-mates were also in short supply by this stage, something which can’t be said of Japan’s starlets, who emphasised their superiority in uncompromising fashion in the dying minutes, adding two more goals to the scoreline to run up a rout. The Tanakas combined via a quickly taken free-kick in the 89th minute, Yoko’s pass to Mina seeing the latter closed down by Carlton. But Yoko Tanaka was on hand to pick up the pieces, and after evading a couple of challenges she fired unerringly across Reddaway into the far corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area - 5-0. That quality finish was followed up seconds later by the coup de grace, in stoppage time. Substitute Yuka Honda, who had gone close with a long-range effort in the 86th minute, timed her run to perfection to latch onto Yoko Tanaka’s ball over the defence, and she raced clear before slipping a composed finish past the advancing Reddaway and into the far corner of the net. Young Nadeshiko’s 6-0 triumph could well have been greater over a Young Ferns team which simply struggled to compete. Having started the tournament so strongly against Venezuela, yet suffered a result they did not deserve, defeat at the hands of European champions Spain left their World Cup dreams hanging by a thread which Japan severed clinically, emphatically, ruthlessly, without compromise. The Young Ferns will dwell a long time on this defeat, as will those who care about the women’s game in New Zealand, because results such as this, and the early return home of the Junior Ferns - arguably the most experienced age-grade squad ever to represent New Zealand - from Germany earlier this year, strongly suggest there is significant room for improvement with regard to certain aspects of the women’s game overall. At senior level, the Football Ferns continue to improve on the world stage, both as a team - 2010 Cyprus Cup runners-up - and individually, with a number of the squad’s stars making significant contributions to their respective clubs teams around the globe. Grooming the next generation of Football Ferns, via the Junior and Young Ferns squads, not forgetting the coaching staff required for same, is proving to be highly challenging, however, particularly with the speed in which the women’s game the world over is developing, a result of countries devoting resources aplenty towards their female footballers which were previously the domain of their men’s teams alone. It’s NZ Football’s task to work smarter and minimise as much as possible our geographic isolation by coming up with programmes and initiatives which ensure we maximise our frequent qualification for FIFA’s showpiece events by being competitive and well capable of recording respectable results and creditworthy performances against our international rivals at same. For the most part, such plans are in place, but some fine-tuning is clearly required if our hopes and expectations of seeing New Zealand featuring in the knockout stages of FIFA’s Women’s World Cup Finals are to become a reality in the near future. Japan:         Hirao; Nagasawa, Kanazawa, Muramatsu, Hamada; M. Tanaka, Y. Tanaka, Naomoto (Wada, 63), Yokoyama (Goto, 77); Kawashima, Kyokawa (Kato, 63) Young Ferns:    Reddaway; Bowen, Boyce, McPherson, Head; Carlsen (Mathews, 63), Burrows, Loye; Patterson, Wong (Carlton, 49), Chance (Lee, 76) Referee:    Kirsi Heikkinen (Finland)