New Zealand’s Young Ferns bettered Venezuela everywhere but where it matters most - on the scoreboard - in their opening FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals fixture in Couva, Trinidad, on September 6, the South Americans coming from behind to win 2-1 at the Ato Boldon Stadium. All the statistics - possession, shots on goal, time in the opposition’s half, completed passes, corners - pointed to a Young Ferns victory, or, at worst, a share of the spoils in a well-contested encounter, but they were left to wonder what went wrong as they watched the Venezuelan celebrations which followed the final whistle, the victors marking their maiden appearance in the U-17 Women’s Finals with an opening round win. Two-goal heroine Ysaura Viso, who also hit the post, will claim all the plaudits, but goalkeeper Maleike Pacheco was their real star, Venezuela’s number one producing a mix of solid and superb saves to deny the Young Ferns, after the Kiwi women had begun the match brilliantly. Rebecca Burrows fired their first shot in anger narrowly past the post from twenty-five yards in just the second minute, while an indication of the Young Ferns’ confidence on the ball was seen two minutes later, as they played their way out of defence to create a goalscoring opportunity. Kate Loye and Olivia Chance - New Zealand’s most outstanding performers on the day - played a one-two deep inside their own half near the left-hand touchline, before Loye steered the ball back to Tessa McPherson, who promptly picked out Katie Bowen with a sweeping cross-field pass. The Young Ferns’ captain passed the ball to Holly Patterson, who duly set sail for La Vinatinto’s goal while still inside her own half, hurdling one challenge and racing past another before scything inside and unleashing a left-footed drive from fully thirty yards which Pacheco needed two attempts to deny. Five minutes later, Patterson fired another long-range effort narrowly over the crossbar as the Young Ferns continued to impose themselves on the match in a manner rarely seen by New Zealand teams at this level - they oozed confidence, something which was evident in the quality and accuracy of their passing in these opening minutes. And within sixty seconds, their bright start enjoyed the reward it richly deserved. Chance won possession half-way inside Venezuela’s half and took on an opponent before slipping a pass into the stride of the overlapping Rachel Head, whose first-time cross was a peach. It was too good for Venezuela’s defence, with Soleidys Rengel’s attempted clearance ricocheting off Patterson straight to the feet of Loye, who battered the ball home from four yards to open the scoring. The Young Ferns were good value for it, too, and they twice attempted to double their advantage in the next four minutes, with Steph Skilton and Patterson both giving Pacheco cause for concern as they chanced their arm. Venezuela began to come into the match after these efforts, via a combination of limiting the damage Patterson was causing and New Zealand’s own short-comings - the crisp, clean passing moves with which they dominated the opening fifteen minutes were starting to lose their sharpness, and the odd sloppy or lazy pass was creeping into their repertoire, with Head and Burrows responsible for a few too many of these as the trend continued. The latter’s 23rd minute shot, following a Chance corner which Pacheco punched out in acrobatic fashion - what is it with Latin goalkeepers and their penchant for punching balls clear, as opposed to catching them? - resulted in a goal-kick from which Venezuela levelled matters, very much against the run of play. A raking clearance up-field saw Head and the generally soundly performed McPherson initially leave the ball for each other to deal with. The latter eventually took responsibility, but Viso had appeared on the scene by this time, and swiftly stripped her of possession. Head instantly gave chase, but before she got within tackling range, Viso hit the bouncing ball in her stride on the volley, the arc of her twenty yard shot flying over the flailing fingertips of the hitherto unchallenged Chloe-May Geurts and in by the far post - a cracking strike, and one which understandably delighted the Venezuelans, who until this point hadn’t even remotely looked like scoring.

But they were on level terms, and were prevented  from taking the lead five minutes later when Geurts - a nervous performance - tipped Michelle Clemente’s shot round the post after she gathered the ball on the left and cut inside before letting fly from twenty yards. The Young Ferns’ response was led by Bowen, whose throw-in was headed out to Evie Millynn. She lobbed the ball in towards Patterson, who flicked it into Skilton’s stride. She found herself in space in the penalty area some fifteen yards from goal, and with just Pacheco to beat in the 31st minute. She did that alright, but the ‘keeper didn’t even have to move as the striker’s shot swerved wildly wide - the sort of chance which, on their free-scoring form in the Oceania qualifying tournament, you’d have fancied substitutes Hannah Wong or Brittany Dudley-Smith to capitalise upon, and certainly one with which Skilton should have done better. It was following this miss that the game became something of an arm-wrestle, with the Young Ferns’ crisp, accurate passing less evident as the Venezuelans’ competitiveness improved, along with their eagerness to go to ground whenever the chance arose. Three times before the interval they forced Geurts to make saves, the first of which betrayed the ‘keeper’s uncertainty. She could very easily have gathered a long-range free-kick from Yaribeth Ulacio with which no-one made contact in the fortieth minute, but bizarrely stumbled, bumbled and fumbled it around the post for an unnecessary corner. New Zealand survived this, and the other occasions in the time remaining which saw Geurts called upon to save - a twenty-five yarder from Viso and another Ulacio free-kick were dealt with far more confidently by the Young Ferns’ number one. The Kiwis themselves could have gone to the dressing rooms with their noses in front, the enterprising run of Chance taking her past two opponents into the penalty area before she rattled the side-netting in the 42nd minute, followed seconds later by a fifteen-yarder from Patterson which she directed straight at Pacheco upon receipt of Geurts’ raking clearance. The Young Ferns survived a genuine scare ninety seconds into the second half, which arose from their inability to deal with an angled free-kick from out wide by Ulacio. Ghosting in behind all-comers was Viso, who directed her header against the post, off which the ball rebounded to safety. Chance then proceeded to take matters into her own hands, in doing so revitalising New Zealand’s spirits with a wonderful solo run in the 49th minute. Four opponents were left trailing in her wake as she swept into the penalty area, from where she rattled the side-netting with a fierce drive deserving of better fate. Taking their lead from this cameo of creativity, the Young Ferns quickly began to impose themselves on their opponents again, albeit with not quite the same degree of dominance that was evident in the opening twenty minutes of the match. Millynn curled a twenty-yarder past the post five minutes into the second half, as Skilton and Patterson teamed up, while the latter smartly evaded three challenges on the right six minutes later before inviting Skilton to turn and cross. All missed it, with the ball ricocheting off the incoming figure of the hard-working Millynn, prompting Pacheco to save at the feet of the midfielder. The ‘keeper promptly thumped the ball downfield, inviting Rengel to race in off the flank and set up Maria Rodriguez for a 58th minute shot which careered well wide of the target. The fate of the match swung on two incidents half-way through the second half. Following further sustained New Zealand pressure, Chance whipped in a 65th minute corner to the near post. Skilton’s header was blocked, but the rebound fell invitingly to McPherson some six yards out from goal. The defender promptly let fly, and it looked a goal for all money until Pacheco pulled off a quite stunning save by her left-hand post - the fact she held onto the shot made the denial even more noteworthy, ‘cause McPherson held nothing back with her shot. Pacheco received pats on the back aplenty from her team-mates, and rightly so. And after grabbing a looping long-range effort from Burrows seconds

later, she launched the ball downfield with telling consequences. The Young Ferns defence allowed the ball to bounce, and their hesitance was just the opening Viso was hoping for. The striker darted in between the retreating figures of Sivitha Boyce and McPherson to latch onto the ball, which she calmly slotted home past the advancing figure of Geurts to put Venezuela in front, again via a goal very much against the run of play. Cue some shell-shocked Kiwis - on the balance of play, and the evidence of any number of match statistical tallies, there was no way on earth they should have been behind on the scoreboard. But Venezuela had taken the lead, and with the 31C heat now beginning to take its toll on the Young Ferns, and a game to chase, it was time for some changes. On came Dudley-Smith, who, after a string of stoppages due to cramp-struck Venezuelans, linked with Boyce and Bowen in the 77th minute to bring Patterson into play. She squared the ball to Burrows, whose lob was missed by Venezuelan defender Genesis Moreno, who turned to see Chance scooting into the penalty area between defenders, stretching to reach the ball. Pacheco thwarted the danger at close quarters, then turned a thirty-five yarder from Bowen over the bar three minutes later, which led to a quite incredible ninety seconds of goalmouth action as the Young Ferns threw everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at the Venezuelan goal. Chance’s corner was cleared to Patterson, who fed the corner-taker once more. She weaved in-field past four defenders before linking with Loye, whose lob unhinged the Venezuelan defence and was perfectly weighted into Patterson’s stride. Before she could pull the trigger, however, Pacheco produced a superb blocking save at the fleet-footed flank player’s feet, with Venezuela happy simply to scramble clear the loose ball, no matter to whom or where. To Bowen certainly wasn’t their best option, and the Young Ferns captain whipped in a wicked cross which parted Dudley-Smith’s hair as she looked to head home. Behind her lurked Loye, but while she had joy from four yards out in the first half, there was nothing but despair for her on this occasion, as Pacheco did enough to keep her team ahead on the scoreboard. Her clearance, this time, was ineffective, and within seconds the white-clad Kiwis were swarming around the Venezuelan penalty area once more. Head fired in a cross which wasn’t cleared, and invited Millynn to let fly. Her effort was wayward, but deflected goal-wards off the heel of Dudley-Smith, but without enough power to trouble Pacheco unduly. This prompted the Young Ferns to throw caution to the wind, and both Megan Lee and Wong, the leading scorer in the qualifying campaign, were called upon to salvage something from the match in the six minutes which remained - a tad late, perchance? Alas, yes, as it proved, though it wasn’t for the want of trying. A Bowen free-kick in stoppage time was headed down by Dudley-Smith to McPherson, who found Pacheco right behind her twenty-yarder, as was Geurts when Venezuelan substitute Paola Villamizar lashed a free-kick towards the Young Ferns’ goal a minute later. There was time for one final assault on the South Americans’ goal, if the Kiwis were to get some reward from a game in which they deserved far greater reward. They employed Venezuelan tactics - route one! - and were almost rewarded, Geurts’ clearance flicked on by Dudley-Smith into the penalty area for Lee to stride onto, only for Rengel to thwart the substitute with a timely challenge which confirmed a historic win for her country. Venezuela know full well this was a victory they scarcely deserved, but as the Young Ferns will grudgingly admit, their opponents did just one thing better than Oceania’s champions over ninety minutes. The illuminated figures on the scoreboard after the final whistle told all-comers exactly what that one thing was. Venezuela:     Pacheco; Rodriguez (booked, 18) (Villamizar, 87), Moreno, Ulacio, Rengel; Zambrano, Carrero (Rosas, 46), Toledo, Martinez; Viso, Clemente (Guarecuco, 74) Young Ferns:     Geurts; Bowen, Boyce, McPherson, Head (Wong, 84); Burrows, Millynn, Loye; Patterson, Skilton (Dudley-Smith, 69), Chance (Lee, 84)                         Referee:     Thaila Mitsi (Greece)