The technical prowess and clinical efficiency with which German football is so often associated was witnessed at first hand by New Zealand's Young Ferns on North Harbour Stadium's outer oval on January 29, as Germany's U-17 women scored a 4-0 victory over their Kiwi counterparts to conclude the opening round of the Future Stars Invitational Tournament. The visiting team, who have progressed to the last sixteen in the UEFA qualifying competition for the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals later this year, made their attacking intentions clear from the outset, and prompted Charlotte Wood's first save of the day after just four minutes. That came about from a Marie-Louise Bagehorn corner, which picked out Inka Wesely. Her powerful twelve-yard header was tipped over the bar by the New Zealand goalkeeper, who looked on with relief as the same combination resulted in Bagehorn directing another headed effort over the bar from eight yards seconds later. German striker Svenja Huth was to prove quite a handful throughout proceedings, but when Bridgette Armstrong gave her a helping hand by slicing a clearance straight to the goal-hungry front-runner, her surprise at the gift was reflected in her wayward shot from the edge of the penalty area. Huth's attacking partner in crime, Tabea Kemme, was next to feature, with Woods denying the striker at her feet in the twelfth minute of a match which the Young Ferns began in nervous fashion. Their cause wasn't aided by referee Mike Hester, who missed a handball by Huth on the quarter hour, an oversight which the striker took full advantage of. She dashed through a New Zealand defence which was anticipating a free-kick, and only the adroit reflexes of Wood kept her at bay. The rebound fell kindly for Kemme, but again Wood was to the fore, blocking at the striker's feet before Lauren Mathis came to her team-mate's aid and temporarily averted the danger - two efforts from Huth in the ensuing two minutes meant the Kiwis weren't yet out of the woods. The source of the bulk of Germany's creativity to date had been out on the flanks, where Isabelle Linden, on the right wing, and her opposite, Alexandra Popp, had led their Kiwi counterparts a merry dance. But a scything challenge on the latter brought a premature end to her afternoon, and, perhaps, her tournament. If the Germans were disrupted by the departure of Popp, it wasn't immediately obvious. They simply shuffled their pack and introduced a right winger in Turid Kinaak who, if anything, was better than the player she replaced. Crasborn, who had struggled to stave off Linden's advances as she tried to run off an early injury, suddenly found herself faced with an even trickier opponent to deal with. Kinaak wasn't slow to make her mark. She left Crasborn in her slipstream in the 26th minute before getting to the by-line and whipping in a low cross which zoomed across the face of goal. No-one in a German shirt was on hand to take advantage of that opening, but when Kinaak found herself in acres of space with just the ball for company on New Zealand's left flank seconds later, the alarm bells were ringing violently in the home team's camp. By the time they reacted, the damage had been done. Kinaak pulled the ball back to Kemme, whose lay-off invited Yasmin Pietsch to pick her

spot from twenty yards, a chance the midfielder duly exploited with panache - 1-0 Germany. After Kinaak had brought a save out of Wood from twenty-five yards, and a surging run through the middle by Linden - where were the challengers? - had culminated in the midfielder unleashing a twenty-yarder barely a yard over the bar, the Young Ferns set about the task of grabbing an equaliser, ten minutes before half-time. Annalie Longo was at the heart of much of New Zealand's enterprising attacking efforts, and on this occasion, she led the Germans a merry dance with a twinkle-toed run which culminated in the energetic figure of Mathis being denied by the legs of German goalkeeper, Lisa Schmitz. The visitors swooped on the rebound and quickly transferred the ball to the right flank, where Kinaak set sail downfield once more. She raced to the by-line before pulling the ball back for Huth to unleash a shot in her stride. Wood parried it superbly, but it was her bad luck that the ball rebounded straight to the striker, whose composed finish was cruel on the home team, who had come so close to levelling the scores mere seconds earlier. That strike didn't put the Young Ferns off in any way, and straight from the kick-off, they poured downfield. Rosie White, whose need to swiftly channel her aggression for the greater good in order to avoid penalising her team by picking up yellow cards was again in evidence, led the charge, only for her piledriver to be well stopped by Schmitz. End-to-end action ensued for the remainder of the half, with Germany denied a penalty when Huth was flattened by the uncompromising figure of Briony Fisher in the 41st minute. Play continued, with Longo eventually receiving the ball and letting fly from twenty-five yards, prompting a fine flying save from Schmitz, who tipped the effort round the post. The corner was cleared, with Linden leading the resulting counter-attack. Her progress saw three opponents wrong-footed before Crasborn's last-gasp tackle partly curtailed the midfielder's progress. Linden took the resulting corner, which picked out the head of German captain, Valeria Kleiner. Her header arced over the crossbar. First half stoppage time saw action aplenty. Sarah McLaughlin, who had earlier badly squandered a free-kick opportunity, looked to make amends with another, twenty yards from goal, and awarded against Pietsch for crudely taking out White off the ball. McLaughlin's effort looped over the wall, but over the crossbar as well, prompting a goal-kick. The Germans didn't execute this fundamental resumption of play technique at all well, and only Kleiner's despairing tackle denied Mathis from dragging the Kiwis back into the contest on the scoreboard. Instead, they went to the dressing room 3-0, as the Germans once again struck on the counter-attack, immediately following a close call in front of their own goal. The charge was led by Kinaak, who raced to the by-line before clipping a cross to the near post. Three defenders were on hand to deal with the threat, but they stood statue-like as Huth darted in between them and pinched a goal out of nothing to end the game as a contest.

As a spectacle, however, there was plenty to be pleased about in the second spell, particularly from a New Zealand perspective. They held their own against the Germans in this half, denying their more technically gifted opponents at almost every turn. Inevitably, the German tide couldn't be held at bay forever, but the frequency with which they penetrated New Zealand's rearguard was far less noticeable in this half, something for which Armstrong and Fisher should take much credit. Wood was their saviour on those occasions early in the half when German initiative came close to being rewarded with a goal. The `keeper saved at the feet of Huth in the 52nd minute, was right behind a shot on the run from Kemme three minutes later, then splendidly pawed out a twenty-yarder from Bagehorn after overlapping fullback Claudia Bujna had powered down the right and whipped in a vicious low cross. The Young Ferns came close to notching a goal in the 54th minute, when a McLaughlin corner to the far post was tailor-made for White to head home, only for the livewire midfielder to have the ball punched off the top of her head by Schmitz's despairing dive - a great piece of goalkeeping. Substitutions and injury stoppages - Fisher, in particular, paid a heavy price at times for leading from the front, so much so that the Young Ferns finished the game with ten players on the park - prevented any real pattern of play from developing after the hour mark, although some of the Kiwi changes were rewarding. Caitlin Campbell and Leah Gallie were introduced on the hour mark, and both made an impact on the game, the former going so far as to bring the best out of Schmitz in the 74th minute, after Hannah Wall's pressure unnerved the hitherto picture of calm and order which was the German rearguard. Longo and White, too, made their mark in this regard, the latter upon being moved into the forward line. Her willingness to chase and harry created an opening for Wall in the 79th minute, but the flank player was at full stretch to reach the ball, and couldn't direct her effort on target. Seconds later, Longo overdid the chasing and harrying, and was fortunate to escape a booking from referee Hester after a cynical challenge. That was the signal for the play-maker to depart the fray, and while the Young Ferns were regrouping following her departure, they conceded a fourth goal, seven minutes from time. It came out of nowhere, and while it was harsh on the local team's solid second half showing, few would have denied that the scorer, Kinaak, didn't deserve to get her name on the scoresheet, such had been her impact on the match as a first half substitute. Her twenty-five yard pot-shot arced over Wood and into the net to round out Germany's 4-0 triumph, which captain Kleiner and substitute Lynn Mester both looked to enhance before the final whistle. New Zealand:     Wood; Brown (Curtis, 88), Fisher, Armstrong, Crasborn (Fullerton, 46); Mathis (Campbell, 60), Longo (Rollings, 81), White (booked, 34), Pearl (Gallie, 60), Wall; McLaughlin (Kerdemelidis, 78) Germany:     Schmitz; Bujna, Wesely (Debitzki, 76), Kleiner, Simon (Vetterlein, 68); Linden (Doppler, 68), Bagehorn, Pietsch (booked, 45) (Mester, 73), Popp (Kinaak, 21); Kemme, Huth (booked, 78) Referee:     Mike Hester