The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home
North Korea
North Koreans End Junior Ferns’ World Cup Dream
by Jeremy Ruane
Rosie White in the thick of the action against North Korea
photo courtesy FIFA / Getty Images
North Korea brought a premature end to the Junior Ferns’ hopes of progressing to the last eight of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Finals on July 16, advancing to the quarter-finals themselves by downing the New Zealanders 2-1 at the Schuco Arena in Bielefeld.
With Sweden and Brazil having drawn the day’s earlier Group B encounter 1-1, Tony Readings’ charges kicked off the match knowing that nothing short of victory over one of the tournament favourites would suffice if they were to keep alive their World Cup dreams.
After Erin Nayler pushed away a dangerous free-kick from Hyon Un Hui just seventy seconds into the match, the Junior Ferns enjoyed a terrific early spell of pressure, during which they came desperately close to opening the scoring.
Defensive midfield Nadia Pearl - the only change to New Zealand’s starting line-up - slipped a pass to captain Anna Green, whose early ball forward sent Rosie White storming through in between defenders.
The 2008 Oceania Women’s Player of the Year controlled the ball neatly before letting fly with a wickedly struck volley which forced a vital third minute save out of North Korean goalkeeper Hong Myong Hui, whose goal-line had been breached just once before this match in their entire campaign, qualifiers included.
The resulting Hannah Wall corner was headed wide at the near post by the unmarked Bridgette Armstrong, a missed opportunity which sparked a swift North Korean counter-attack. Briony Fisher headed this clear, but only as far as Hyon, who burst onto the ball and delivered a measured cross onto Choe Mi Gyong, whose glancing header flashed past Nayler’s right-hand post.
When the Asian team next attacked, they broke the deadlock. Armstrong got the better of Choe in the penalty area, but her twelfth minute clearance went straight to North Korea’s captain, Kim Chung Sim, who angled a pass in towards Yun Hyon Hi.
The striker allowed the ball to run across her, outfoxing Briony Fisher in doing so and creating a yard of space for herself to exploit. As Wall lunged despairingly at the ball in a vain attempt to deny Yun, she lashed an unerring fifteen yarder beyond Nayler and into the bottom left-hand corner of the net - 1-0 North Korea.
It was a blow which the Junior Ferns struggled to deal with initially. They were affording the North Koreans too much space in areas of the park where they could ill afford to, and Jon Myong Hwa looked to take advantage of it in the eighteenth minute, her low twenty-five yard drive careering narrowly past Nayler’s right-hand post.
But led by Hannah Wilkinson, whose surges down the left were giving the North Koreans cause for concern aplenty, the Kiwis dragged themselves back into the match.
Green’s stunning forty yard free-kick required some acrobatics from Hong to keep the Junior Ferns scoreless in the 27th minute, while Renee Leota’s reflex header directed the ball onto the roof of the net seconds later, Wall having picked out Armstrong from the resulting corner.
Another foul on White - she had a tough day at the office - presented Green with another free-kick opportunity on the half-hour, which she fired towards the far post. Wilkinson was just inches away from getting on the end of it to head home the equaliser.
The Junior Ferns continued to press, but found penetrating the North Korean defence decidedly challenging. Getting some consistent decisions out of Ghanaian referee Mercy Tagoe proved to be equally so - how Wilkinson merited the game’s only yellow card in the 41st minute, when Hong clattered into the striker as she caught the ball, defied logic!
The North Koreans finished the half in the ascendancy, and should have doubled their lead in the 42nd minute. Fisher - she has had a tournament to forget - slipped when attempting to deal with a free-kick, and Choe stole in behind her to surge to the by-line and pull the ball back for Kim. The unmarked captain blazed over from ten yards.
Choe then delivered a stoppage time corner which Nayler - the Junior Ferns’ star turn in this match - tipped over the bar. If she hadn’t done so, the ball would have crept in under it, dealing a body blow of potentially devastating proportions to the Kiwis’ spirits, right on the stroke of half-time.
The Oceania champions looked to get back into the match from the outset of the second half, and a wicked Wall corner deserved better fate in the 51st minute, both Wilkinson and Leota just failing to get a touch on the ball as Hong flapped in vain.
But the North Koreans countered this with a flurry of opportunities, the first of which saw Nayler produce a superb double-save in the 53rd minute. Choe raced past Fisher en route to the heart of New Zealand’s penalty area, from where she pulled the ball back to substitute Ho Un Byol. Her shot was parried by Nayler, who recovered to thwart the incoming Kim at the captain’s feet.
Four minutes later, only a superbly timed tackle by Armstrong, to deny Ho in the act of shooting, kept the Kiwis in contention, the newcomer having worked a one-two with Choe after Wall had conceded possession cheaply.
In the 63rd minute, Fisher was again caught out of position by Choe, something for which she copped an earful from Green, who was forced to come to the rescue by directing a header against the angle of her own post and crossbar as Choe’s cross sought out the head of Ho.
From the resulting corner, however, things got even worse for New Zealand. Choe’s delivery cleared all-comers and reared up in front of White, off whose arm it ricocheted to her country’s advantage. Referee Tagoe had no option, and White buried her face in her hands as the official pointed to the penalty spot.
Kim Un Hyang had just entered the fray in place of her captain, Kim Chung Sim, and buried the 65th minute penalty under the despairing dive of Nayler, the ‘keeper beaten by the pace of the shot as it arrowed into the bottom right-hand corner of her net.
2-0 to North Korea, and New Zealand with the proverbial mountain to climb. They made a good fist of it, with White dragging a shot from a free-kick badly wide before Leota, who was extremely well contained by Sin Sol Ryon throughout proceedings, lashed a half-chance over the bar on the volley soon afterwards.
White then had New Zealand’s best chance of the match, in the 73rd minute, presented to her by the hard-working Betsy Hassett, whose interception broke down a North Korean raid half-way inside their own half.
Hassett’s slide-rule pass put White in the clear on the right, and from fifteen yards out she angled a shot across Hong which beat the stranded ‘keeper all ends up. Fortunately for her, but not for the Junior Ferns, the ball fizzed past the far post, leaving the prolific youngster - she’ll be eligible for the 2012 version of this competition - to bury her face in her hands once again.
After Nayler had saved at the feet of Ho, Jon and Choe having once again prised open the right-hand side of New Zealand’s rearguard, a vital Armstrong tackle denied Ho in the 76th minute, as the North Koreans counter-attacked while their Kiwi counterparts bemoaned - with justification aplenty - the referee’s shortcomings once more.
Green whipped in a free-kick from the right which Hong fumbled. Leota looked to pounce on the loose ball, but went to ground as the ‘keeper looked to recover her error. A penalty, surely, but as the ball was scrambled to safety, referee Tagoe ignored the Junior Ferns’ claims, then left them open-mouthed in disbelief as she over-ruled her assistant’s correctly signalled corner, awarding the North Koreans a goal-kick instead.
It was one of those moments which said, "This is not going to be our day", and while the Junior Ferns continued to chase the game - Claudia Crasborn’s introduction to the fray added even more presence and energy to the attack - the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup winners, who were runners-up in this competition two years ago, had their measure.
Or so it seemed. For in the ninetieth minute, the Junior Ferns got some reward for their efforts, ironically via yet another blunder by the incompetent officials. Green fired in a corner which was cleared to Hassett, who steered it wide to White just outside the penalty area.
The striker picked out the head of Armstrong, who was offside when the ball was crossed. That mattered not to the powerful defender, however - she was more concerned with bulleting her header into the net from eight yards to give the Junior Ferns late hope of keeping their dreams alive.
Time was their enemy, however - as the North Koreans kicked off after the goal, just three minutes of stoppage time remained. And during those additional minutes, Nayler produced another fine save to keep her team in contention, denying Ho after Fisher had failed to clear a right wing cross from Kim Un Hyang.
There wasn’t time for the Junior Ferns to respond in their quest for a dramatic equaliser, and when the final whistle sounded, to a woman they slumped to the ground, tears flowing, hearts broken, dreams shattered, their World Cup effectively over with a group game still to play after a second successive odd-goal-in-three defeat.
That final match, against Brazil in Dresden at 12.30am on Wednesday, NZ time, at least gives the Junior Ferns the chance to finish these Finals on a high. How they rise off the canvas in response to that challenge will reveal the character of this side, which, in experience terms, is the best squad, male or female, New Zealand has ever sent to a FIFA Finals tournament.
Sadly, that experience hasn’t proved to be enough.
Junior Ferns: Nayler; Wall, Fisher, Armstrong, Green; Longo (Carlson, 85), Pearl (Crasborn, 76), Hassett; Leota, White, Wilkinson (booked, 41)
North Korea: Hong Myong Hui; Hyon Un Hui, Yun Song Mi, Won Un Ha, Sin Sol Ryon; Kim Chung Sim (Kim Un Hyang, 59), Jon Myong Hwa, Choe Un Ju, Kim Myong Gum; Yun Hyon Hi (Ho Un Byol, 48), Choe Mi Gyong (Kim Un Ju, 87)
Referee: Mercy Nagoe (Ghana)
|
