New Zealand’s Young Ferns were no match for Spain at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad, on September 9, as the European champions conquered their Oceania counterparts 3-1 at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals to clinch their place in the quarter-finals. The Spanish got off to a flying start. Sixty seconds after Ana Maria Catala had rattled the hoardings with a twenty-five yarder, the ineffective Holly Patterson was caught in possession by Spanish captain Amanda Sampedro half-way inside her own half. Gema Gili quickly took over, and smashed home a thirty yarder which arced over the flailing figure of Chloe May Geurts, who was caught out of position by the unforeseen loss of possession, and never recovered her ground in time. Spain maintained their early dominance, Geurts forced to save at the feet of Raquel Pinel in the ninth minute as she pursued Catala’s through ball. But this spurred the Young Ferns into action, and after Kate Loye had lashed a twenty-five yarder past the post, and Olivia Chance had burst between two players in the penalty area, only to be thwarted in the act of shooting by Ivana Anares, they were back on level terms. The lively Chance broke clear on the left and raced past three opponents before crossing to the tireless Steph Skilton - she ran her heart out for the cause throughout, often for little reward. Her flick invited Patterson to let fly from twelve yards. Spanish goalkeeper Dolores Gallardo parried her shot, then recovered to flick the ball off the head of the incoming Skilton. Lurking behind her, however, was Kate Loye, who gleefully volleyed into an empty net - 1-1. Spain were stung by this equaliser, and swarmed downfield straight from the kick-off in an effort to restore their advantage. Tessa McPherson twice thwarted their progress in the next four minutes, heading clear after the impressive Alexia Putellas’ cross had parted Pinel’s hair, with the defender then executing a timely tackle to deny Pinel in the nineteenth minute, after Sara Merida had combined with Catala on the left. Pinel then directed a twelve yard header at Geurts as the European champions continued to pile on the pressure, while a twenty-five yarder from Merida only just cleared the New Zealand crossbar in the 22nd minute, as Spain continued to probe in search of another goal. They were aided in their cause by a lot of stray passes by Young Ferns’ players - Rachel Head was particularly inaccurate distribution-wise, but she wasn’t alone in this regard. Against any opponents, but especially those of noteworthy pedigree against whom New Zealand teams are unlikely to enjoy much time on the ball,

the possession secured must be cherished and utilised accurately - "If you’re going to give a ball, give a quality ball". Too often in this match, possession was cheaply yielded, although to Spain’s credit, they forced a number of those mistakes by their willingness to press the player in possession. Opportunities for the Young Ferns were few and far between, with Evie Millynn sending a twenty yarder fizzing past the post in the 27th minute after Head’s cross had been headed on by Skilton. By and large, however, Spain were in command, although they were meeting plenty of resistance from Sivitha Boyce - she was a colossus at the heart of the Kiwi rearguard. The Spanish were generally restricted to long-range efforts, with Geurts smothering a Putellas effort on the half-hour after her free-kick had been blocked by the defensive wall, while three minutes later Nagore Calderon sent one whistling over the bar after Katie Bowen’s headed clearance had been pounced on by Spanish skipper Sampedro, who led her team-mates by example throughout with her tireless efforts. Three minutes before the interval, the Young Ferns were given the sniff of a chance to take the lead against the run of play. Patterson’s first-time pass sent Skilton scampering through, but a combination of Anares and Gallardo proved suffice to thwart the striker. On the stroke of half-time, Putellas was afforded space aplenty on Spain’s left flank, and she exploited it to the fullest, dashing to the by-line before dinking a cross to the near post, where Pinel was poised to pounce. The Young Ferns scrambled the danger to safety on this occasion, but were dealt a body blow three minutes into the second half, as Spain regained the lead. Bowen conceded a free-kick just outside the penalty area, and Merida’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as the prospect of a set-piece scoring opportunity. She took it superbly, curling the ball over the wall and dipping it inside Geurts’ near post to put Spain 2-1 up. Deservedly, too, and once in front again, they rarely looked like relinquishing their advantage. Indeed, within five minutes, the Young Ferns had survived two further close calls, the first seeing Sampredo feed Calderon, who raced past Head before whipping in a cross. McPherson, later to succumb to cramp in the 30C heat, cleared this to safety off Pinel, while Calderon then squandered a good opening from fifteen yards out after a tantalising cross from Putellas had been headed out to her by the hard-pressed New Zealand defender. The first Young Ferns raid in the half saw Loye and Skilton work a one-two on half-way which allowed the former to send Chance - she’s had an impressive tournament to date - down the left at pace. Gallardo

grabbed the cross which was targeting Skilton’s head, while at the other end of the park moments later, Geurts produced a fine diving save to her left to deny Merida’s shot on the run as she scythed in off the left. The Kiwi ‘keeper came to Boyce’s rescue just after the hour when the central defender was caught unawares by Putellas, while the same player found Geurts again equal to her efforts eight minutes later, after Laura Gutierrez and Sampedro had combined to good effect. In between times, a rare New Zealand corner had seen Bowen’s delivery pick out Loye’s head. The ball always bounced just too far ahead of Skilton for her to capitalise upon it, a prompt for coach Dave Edmondson to turn to his bench to try and revive Kiwi fortunes. Before any changes were made, however, Geurts got Head out of trouble by producing a fine save. The fullback had been caught out by Putellas, who promptly set up the newly introduced Paloma Lazaro with a shooting chance which the substitute hit first-time. Geurts tipped her fifteen yard effort over the bar, after which the introduction of Brittany Dudley-Smith gave the goalkeeper the chance to launch clearances downfield for the speedy substitute to pursue. One such clearance, in the 76th minute, saw the newcomer put pressure aplenty on Gutierrez, but the Spanish stopper was calmness personified as she headed the ball back to Gallardo. This approach increasingly proved to be the Young Ferns’ prime pursuit of an equaliser, but it left them vulnerable to the counter-attack, and in the 86th minute, their hopes of getting something out of the game were dashed by Lazaro, who stole in between defenders to head home Catala’s cross from six yards - 3-1. There was no way back from this for the Young Ferns. Indeed, things could have been worse - the offside flag came to their rescue as Lazaro pounced again in the 89th minute. 3-1 was more than suffice to see Spain progress to the quarter-finals, and with Japan mauling Venezuela in the later game, the prospects of the Young Ferns joining them are decidedly slim - they need to beat the Japanese by at least four goals when they meet in Scarborough, Tobago, at 8am on Tuesday, NZ time. Spain:          Gallardo; Altonaga, Gutierrez, Anares, Catala; Calderon, Gili, Merida (booked, 45), Putellas (Tazo, 78); Sampedro (Garcia, 82), Pinel (Lazaro, 72) Young Ferns:     Geurts; Bowen, Boyce, McPherson (Windsor, 73), Head; Millynn (Parkinson, 84), Burrows, Loye; Patterson (Dudley-Smith, 75), Skilton, Chance Referee:     Cha Sung Mi (Korea Republic)