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Argentina Tour
Argentina On The Agenda For NZ Under-20s
by Jeremy Ruane
With so much attention of late having been placed on the All Whites' encounter with Brazil, the upcoming clashes of another national representative soccer team against highly prominent South American opposition appear to have slipped through NZ Soccer's radar, with not even a hint of an official announcement having emanated from the national body's temporary offices in Germany.
But come this Thursday, twenty-one players who are vying for places in New Zealand's Under-20 Women's World Cup Finals squad will head to Argentina for a demanding four-match week-long tour of the South American footballing hotbed.
A day after their arrival in Buenos Aires, they'll take on club opposition in the form of San Lorenzo, before taking on Argentinian national teams in the other three fixtures.
A clash with the country's senior national team, who are ranked 36th in the world, takes place in between two encounters against their fellow Under-20 Women's World Cup Finalists, who have been drawn with France, the USA and either Nigeria or the Democratic Republic of Congo in Group D of August's finals in Russia.
NZ U-20 Women's coach, John Herdman, is delighted with the chance for his charges to take on international opposition of this calibre. “Culturally, Argentina will have a totally different approach to what New Zealand has faced to date.
“They are quite a robust combination, and provides us with another yardstick to measure ourselves against, much like we did against Australia across the Tasman in February. It's a fantastic benchmark for us, and will allow the players to get a feeling of the style of football synonymous with South America.
“As well, it's a tour of opportunity for a number of players who've been selected, and gives them the chance to stake their claim for a berth in the squad which will represent us in Russia”.
To that end, five players are included in the twenty-one-strong combination who weren't part of the squad which clinched New Zealand's Russian berth at April's qualifying tournament in Samoa.
Emma Kete and Maggie Lankshear, both of whom were late omissions from that squad after an eleventh hour decision on the size of competing squads was made by the Oceania confederation, are among the touring party, along with three players who will represent their country at this age level for the first time.
South African-born goalkeeper Bianca Mori gets her
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Itinerary
Click the fixture for a match report
Squad
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chance to don the gloves on the international stage, while current NZ Secondary Schoolgirls captain Grace Vincent also has the chance to continue her progression along the international footballing trail.
The bolter in the squad is jet-heeled fifteen-year-old Merissa Smith, whose fleet-footed performances on the flanks for Three Kings United and Auckland age-grade teams have captured the attention of Herdman, who has omitted goalkeeper Ashleigh Cox and defender Petria Rennie from this touring party, but not from his final selection plans.
Joining the squad part-way through the tour will be All Whites' coach Ricki Herbert, in his capacity as NZS High Performance Manager. It's a move Herdman greatly welcomes.
“The tactical awareness and support of the players by Ricki is something which they, and I, very much appreciate. Having the All Whites' coach joining us in Buenos Aires shows how important this group of girls is to NZ Soccer”.
Under-20s captain, Kirsty Yallop, is, like all the squad, very much looking forward to what is a venture into the unknown for these players. “It'll be a good experience for us, that's for sure. It'll be good to see where we're at against the Argentinian Under-20 squad.
“Playing one of the top club teams in San Lorenzo to start off will be tough, while our third match, against their “A” squad, seems pretty daunting. Nonetheless, we'll set our own goals along the way, and it goes without saying we don't want to get a hiding! Hopefully we'll score a couple of good results over there”.
The Argentinian squad qualified for Russia as runners-up in the South American qualifying tournament, held in Chile in January. Known as the “Albicelestes”, they defeated Columbia (3-1), Ecuador (5-0), Paraguay (3-2 and 4-0) and were held to scoreless draws by Bolivia and Peru en route to the final, which saw them beaten 1-0 by Brazil.
Coached by Carlos Borello, they play a high-energy pressing style of football, while among the stand-out names are defender Eva Gonzalez, midfielder Florencia Quinones, wing-back Mercedes Pereyra, and strikers Ludmila Manicler and Maria Belen Potassa, who was Argentina's top scorer in their qualifying campaign, with five goals.
Seven of the Argentinian squad also represent the country's senior women's team. Only Yallop, Hannah Bromley and Emma Humphries - who turns twenty during the course of the tour - can boast that level of experience for their country.
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SIGHTS
FROM THE
TOUR
with thanks to John Herdman
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 The team's bus, also used by the Argentine national squads
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 Argentina FA's Wall of Fame
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 The gaffer holds court at a team briefing
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 The games room ... spot the ones showing signs of a misspent youth!!
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 The Ezeiza complex and one of the pitches
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