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Argentina Tour
Hannah An Old Head Among Young Ferns
by Jeremy Ruane
Preparing to embark on international duty is something which is increasingly becoming a regular feature of the life of sixteen-year-old Hannah Carlsen.
The Westlake Girls High School sixth former will be away from her classes throughout the bulk of the next couple of weeks, having been selected to represent her country on a two-match tour of Argentina.
For many in the eighteen-strong Young Ferns squad, it’s the first time they’ve been overseas with the prime objective of their travels being to play football, rather than simply be a mere tourist.
Not so for Hannah, however. She’s an old hand at this travelling lark, having been a member of the Young Ferns squad which contested the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals in Trinidad & Tobago.
Indeed, should she take to the field in both matches against Argentina, she will clock up her ninth and tenth full international appearances for the Young Ferns, confirming her as by far the most experienced member of the current crop of New Zealand internationals at this age level.
Needless to say, this fan of Lionel Messi and Marta is very much looking to this latest trip to one of the world’s footballing hotbeds. “I was stoked to be selected for the Argentina tour. I was quietly confident I would be, but you never take these things for granted”.
The level-headed midfield general heads east with three objectives in mind for herself and her team-mates to achieve. “The first task is to build on our efforts against Australia last October and get some results.
“We also want to play our style of football while in Buenos Aires. And every bit as important as the other two aspects is the gaining of experience, so we’re better prepared for our upcoming Women’s World Cup qualifiers in April, and - providing we qualify, of course - the finals in Azerbaijan in September and October”.
Hannah played all but the last eight minutes of the three-match Australian series on the North Harbour Stadium Tigerturf, with the Young Ferns winning two and drawing one of those matches to start their quest to qualify for Azerbaijan on the right note.
Her previous international appearances on home turf were also recorded at the same venue during the 2010 Oceania qualifying tournament, where wins over the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Tonga - a match in which Hannah scored - earned the then fourteen-year-old the chance to represent her country at that year’s FIFA U-17 Finals.
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HANNAH CARLSEN'S
U-17 INTERNATIONAL APPEARANCES
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Part of the Young Ferns’ preparations for that tournament included a low-budget trip to Sydney to take on three teams, while the trip to Trinidad & Tobago took in the sights of Miami en route, where Hannah earned her fourth international cap as a substitute against Eire.
Then came the Finals themselves - quite a step up from her introduction to the sport, which saw a neighbour inviting the then six-year-old to join in to make up the numbers in a game in their backyard.
“I loved it, and have been playing ever since”, says a young lady who is quite a dab hand with a tennis racquet too, by all accounts. “I began playing football for Birkenhead United, and while with them played in three Weir Rosebowl tournaments and two National Age-Grade tournaments for what is now known as Northern Football.
“In 2010 I switched to Metro, where a large number of the Young Ferns that year were based, and last year moved to Lynn-Avon United, having experienced the highlight of my career to date at the end of the previous season - playing every minute of our Finals match against eventual runners-up Japan in Tobago”.
Young Nadeshiko gave the Young Ferns a bit of a footballing lesson that day, but the experiences Hannah and her team-mates gained from that match, and those against Venezuela and Spain in 2010, will stand them in good stead ahead of the 2012 qualifying campaigns upon which both the Young Ferns and Junior Ferns will shortly embark.
The Cook Islands, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea stand in the way of the Young Ferns’ bid to win the Oceania qualifying tournament at Mangere’s Centre Park in the week after Easter, but that’s far from the thoughts of this US scholarship aspirant right now.
“We’re all looking forward to the trip to Argentina”, says Hannah on behalf of her team-mates, “and the chance to perform to our best and get the results and experiences we need to help us realise our ambitions for Azerbaijan and beyond”.
The Young Ferns will be staying at the Argentina Football Association’s complex in Buenos Aires, where both matches will take place - the first at 9am on February 25, NZ time, and the second at the same time three days later.
The squad selected by coach Paul Temple boasts three changes from that which accounted for Australia in October. Chloe Knott, Briar McNamara and Chloe Wilson have the chance to stake their claims for a place in the Oceania qualifiers squad on this tour, with Jess Innes, Megan Lee and Jolene Muir currently sidelined.
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