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Draw Commentary
Tantalising Draw For Finals Contenders
by Jeremy Ruane
The draw for the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals took place at Te Papa on Sunday, June 1, and produced some tantalising fixtures in all four venues.
The opening fixture in Wellington, for instance, pits Brazil and England together. While the final clash in the round-robin phase of the competition in Hamilton sees women's footballing super-powers Germany and North Korea facing off.
In Christchurch, Brazil will take on either Cameroon, Ghana or Nigeria in the last round-robin fixture in that city, while the most intriguing fixture of all opens the tournament, as New Zealand take on yet-to-be-confirmed opposition from the CONCACAF federation at North Harbour Stadium on October 28.
The coach of New Zealand's Young Football Ferns, Paul Temple, is “very excited” at the prospect of taking on opponents from North and Central America, where the USA, Canada and Mexico are the traditional strong suits.
“There's going to be a really good team coming out to play us at the opening game in Auckland, and the team will certainly be looking forward to that. We'll certainly be looking forward to the CONCACAF tournament in July, and wait with baited breath as to the outcome”.
The Kiwis' other opponents are Denmark, who finished third in the recent UEFA U-17 Women's Championships, and Columbia, the South American champions. The Danes provide the Young Ferns with their second match of the tournament, at North Harbour Stadium on November 1.
Three days later, Wellington's Westpac Stadium will host the host nation as the top seeds in Group A take on “The Cafeteritas”, as the Columbian U-17 women's squad is known.
Group B is based in Christchurch, where Germany are the seeded team, as they were at the inaugural FIFA U-17 Men's World Cup Finals in 1999. Joining them in the Garden City are North Korea and two teams whose identities are currently unknown, a result of qualifying tournaments having not yet taken place.
The runners-up in the African confederation will head to Christchurch, along with the third place-getters in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament.
Group C is based in Hamilton, and its top seed will be the CONCACAF champions. They will encounter the runners-up from both the UEFA and Asian qualifying tournaments in France and Japan respectively, as well as Paraguay, who finished third in the South American campaign, edging out Argentina.
Despite not winning their confederation's crown, Brazil has been seeded in the group based in Wellington. The Auriverdes were runners-up in South America, and encounter the yet-to-be-determined African champions, as well as England - the fourth place-getters in Europe - and the third-placed Asian contenders, the Korea Republic.
The `Group of Death'? The head of FIFA's U17 Women's World Cup Organising Committee, Chuck Blazer, suggests there isn't one. “The Under-17s always produce the most surprises. It's a very volatile age group, and it depends very often on the specific talents that are present in that team of young players”.
Could New Zealand be that team? Young Ferns captain, Briony Fisher, blushed as she eyed up the handsome silver trophy sitting the length of a table away from her. “What a dream to hold that! Definitely the ultimate goal, but realistically, we're going to go to a World Cup, trying to win a game, so that's all that's going to be on my mind”.
“Reaching the quarter-finals will be the team's goal”, says Temple. “We're not going to deny that. We're hoping that we can cause a few upsets and topple some of the more favoured teams in a group which offers a variety of footballing styles - European, South American and North American.
“It's very exciting for us and the footballing public. Columbia and Denmark are possibly the favourites in our group at the moment, without knowing who the CONCACAF team is. So we'll be hoping we can combine some of our talent, our work ethic that we have as New Zealanders, and the belief we have in ourselves.
“I think those three things are the ingredients we need to win a football match. I really trust my players and what they can do, and we believe that we can cause some upsets and hopefully achieve new ground, really, by making the quarter-finals”.
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 Elizabeth Marvelly performs at the draw ceremony, backed by the flag-bearing Lochiel Marching Team
 Wynton Rufer, Kerri Prendergast (Wellington Mayoress), Jim Brown (MC), Tatjana Haenni (FIFA Head of Women's Football), Michele Cox and Julie Murray preside over the draw
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