Mexico survived the heat of a sunny Sunday afternoon in Baku, Azerbaijan, to score a deserved 1-0 victory over New Zealand’s Young Ferns in both teams’ opening match at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals on September 23. But for a string of fine saves by Lily Alfeld, and the dependable defensive efforts of, in particular, Meikayla Moore and Emily Jensen, things could have been a lot worse for the Kiwis on the artificial turf at Bayil Stadium. As it was, they were visibly suffering from the conditions long before the final whistle, and physio Anna Barlow will well and truly have her work cut out for her in light of the injuries suffered by Megan Lee, Emma Fletcher and captain Hannah Carlsen during the match, not to mention that which has sidelined Catherine Bott - she may miss the entire tournament due to an ankle injury. Her dynamism was missed in this encounter, as the New Zealanders were denied the chance to produce a performance which did justice to their potential by a Mexican team which adopted a shoot from anywhere policy throughout the first half, with many of their attempts from distance sailing harmlessly over Alfeld’s goal. Every once in a while, however, they found their range, such as in the fourth minute, when Cynthia Pineda’s corner to the far post prompted a scramble. Luz Duarte, in the thick of it, directed a shot towards the target which Alfeld grabbed greedily. Six minutes later, Pineda’s ball over the top released speedy winger Taylor Alvarado down the right. She got to the byline and fired in a cross which Jensen hooked away from goal. Following up was fullback Jaqueline Rodriguez, whose angled twenty-five yard drive careered past the far post. Mexico came desperately close to breaking the deadlock in the fourteenth minute. Fernanda Perez drifted inside off the left flank and let rip a twenty yarder which left Alfeld flailing at thin air as the ball flew past her. Fortunately for the Young Ferns, the angle of post and crossbar came to their rescue, to which they responded by mustering their first effort on goal, although Carlsen’s shot from distance lacked the power to unduly trouble Mexican goalkeeper Gabriela Paz. The Young Ferns produced their best move of the match so far in the eighteenth minute, when Jensen, Moore, Martine Puketapu and Fletcher combined to good effect. Jasmine Pereira was the beneficiary of their incisive passing, and invited a teasing cross from the winger which Paz fumbled, but swiftly recovered before any black-clad Kiwis could pounce. Unfortunately, said incisive passing was all too infrequently seen from Oceania’s champions. Instead, their approach play would often founder on a misplaced or misdirected pass, instantly inviting the Mexicans to counter-attack at pace. It was disappointing to see because this Young Ferns squad is well capable of producing football of far better quality. Perhaps it was nerves, or even the heat, but those watching on TV back home were left somewhat unimpressed by a team which, frankly, didn’t do themselves justice on this occasion. The same can’t be said of Perez, who dashed inside off the left once more in the 23rd minute before playing a one-two with Pineda which allowed the flanker to burst into the penalty area, from where she fired a low angled drive across and past the diving figure of Alfeld. Much to the Young Ferns’ relief, the ball crept past the far post. Over the course of the next ten minutes, New Zealand threatened on three occasions without giving Paz to dirty her gloves. Fletcher twice directed shots over the bar - a free-kick landed on the net’s roof - while Puketapu was thwarted by Jocelyn Orejel’s timely tackle, after Moore, Carlsen and Fletcher had engineered the opening. Amidst these efforts, Briar Palmer was stripped of possession on half-way by Mexican captain Karla Nieto, and she surged into the Kiwis’ half on the half-hour before working a one-two with Duarte. Alfeld was little troubled by Nieto’s shot, and was greatly relieved to see Moore saving the day for New Zealand in the 32nd minute with a superbly timed covering tackle on Duarte, after the striker had got the better of Jensen on her way into the heart of the Kiwis’ goalmouth. Nine minutes before half-time, the deadlock was broken. Pineda fired over another corner, and Perez soared above her team-mates to direct a ten yard header over the flailing fingertips of Alfled and into

the roof of New Zealand’s net - 1-0 Mexico. Only a splendidly timed tackle from Merrin - at the second attempt - prevented Duarte from pulling the trigger to cap off a Nieto-inspired raid three minutes before half-time, to which the Young Ferns responded via Jess Innes, whose last act of the match - she was substituted at half-time - saw her let fly from forty yards with an effort which prompted the back-pedalling figure of Paz to crash into her own goal post. Innes and Palmer were respectively replaced by Daisy Cleverley and Emma Rolston at the interval, as Young Ferns coach Paul Temple sought to arrest the shortcomings of New Zealand’s first half performance. The team’s initial response saw a marked improvement on what had gone before, with passes regularly finding targets. Puketapu lacked the self-belief to continue her solo run at the Mexican defence in the 54th minute, while Fletcher went close with a twenty-five yard curling effort soon after. But the Mexicans weathered this storm and proceeded to dominate the second half. In the 58th minute, Alfeld had to race out of her penalty area to clear off the toes of the charging figure of Duarte, as not for the first time, a ball over the top unhinged the Young Ferns’ defence, while seconds later the striker was thwarted by Jensen after getting the better of Moore in the penalty area. Jensen’s block resulted in a corner, which Pineda delivered once more. This time, the beneficiary was substitute Samantha Arellano, who, with her first touch, forced Alfeld to produce a stunning save to thwart the newcomer’s twenty-five yard drive, which had ‘top corner’ written all over it - it was a terrific stop! Mexico continued to press, with even the reliable figure of Merrin getting caught up in the heat of the moment. She made an awful blunder in the 65th minute which let in Alvarado, but thankfully for the fullback Alfeld was on hand to spare her blushes with a fine one-handed save low to her right. Seconds later, Alfeld denied Alvarado again, this time with a parried save in a one-on-one situation, the winger having been played through the offside trap by Pineda’s precise pass. That Alvarado raced through unchallenged owed much to Lee having slumped to the ground in the build-up, courtesy either severe cramp or a nasty injury. The converted centre-back - she is employed as a striker at club level - made numerous promising breaks out of defence in the first spell, but this setback curtailed her involvement in the match, and meant Fletcher and Carlsen had to play through the pain barrier for the remaining twenty-odd minutes, as the Young Ferns had used all their substitutes. Courtney van Lieshout made her international debut as Lee’s replacement, with Moore and Jensen forming the central defensive partnership for the remainder of a match in which both teams were clearly suffering from the heat. Arellano offered Mexico’s next opportunity, directing her angled volley over the bar sixteen minutes from time, while her enterprise presented substitute Jenny Chiu with a shooting chance in stoppage time. Alfeld grabbed this greedily, and quickly launched a counter-attack for the Young Ferns, who, despite the conditions, were striving to get a late equaliser throughout the final ten minutes of the match. But Paz was not to be beaten, the ‘keeper keeping out Fletcher’s twenty yarder after a neat move featuring Jensen, Puketapu and Cleverley six minutes from time, then plucking a Pereira cross from the sky as Puketapu homed in on it in the dying moments. Mexico’s 1-0 win, allied to Japan’s 5-0 thrashing of Brazil in the later encounter in the group, means the Young Ferns have it all to do if they are to progress past group play at Azerbaijan 2012. They will welcome the relief from the heat when playing their next match on Wednesday evening (3am Thursday, NZ time), but there will be no let-up in the heat of the moment, something their Japanese opponents will be keen to ensure, given a win for Young Nadeshiko will ensure their passage into the last eight. Mexico: Paz; Rodriguez, Hernandez (Arellano, 59), Orejel, Solis; Nieto, Pineda, Espinoza; Alvarado (Rivas, 68), Duarte, Perez (Chiu, 81) Young Ferns: Alfeld; Moore, Jensen, Lee (van Lieshout, 70), Merrin; Fletcher, Carlsen, Innes (Cleverley, 46); Pereira, Puketapu, Palmer (Rolston, 46) Referee: Jana Adamkova (Czech Republic)