A plucky but desperately unlucky New Zealand combination went down fighting at North Harbour Stadium on 28 October, Canada overcoming the Young Ferns 1-0 in the opening game of the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals. In front of a stunning crowd of 13,123 - double anything the All Whites and Wellington Phoenix have mustered in recent times - the Young Ferns deserved at least a share of the spoils from an enthralling encounter, one which must surely have converted many sceptics who regard the women's game as kick and giggle. Instead, at the finish, there were tears of despair from a New Zealand side which, understandably, began the biggest game of their lives to date in nervous fashion. But those were cast aside in the seventh minute, when they engineered the game's first attack of note. Captain Briony Fisher won the ball in midfield, and Hannah Wall was the beneficiary of her efforts. She threaded the ball through to Rosie White, whose first-time shot on the run stung the gloves of Canada's giant goalkeeper, six foot tall sixteen-year-old Genevieve Richard. The `keeper showed great presence of mind again seven minutes later, when Sarah McLaughlin pounced on a mistake by central defender Lauren Granberg. Before she had a chance to capitalise, Richard raced out to block at the striker's feet, then had the presence of mind to get to her feet and complete the clearance, the ball having rolled out of the penalty area. The Canadians were causing problems, however, with the outstanding Rachel Lamarre their chief threat. In the seventeenth minute, the Young Ferns left her unmarked twenty yards out from goal, and it was only the block of Bridgette Armstrong which prevented her from opening the scoring with her team's first meaningful attempt on goal. More quickly followed. A Nadia Pearl error was swooped on by Tiffany Cameron, whose subsequent drive brought a confidence-boosting save out of Victoria Esson, who stepped into the breach after first choice `keeper Charlotte Wood was ruled out with a bruised hip. The Young Ferns were rocking at this stage, and in the twentieth minute, came close to conceding a goal. Amy Harrison scampered down the left to the by-line before pulling the ball back for Shelina Zadorsky. The full-back's cross picked out Nkem Ezurike, whose glancing header flashed across the face of goal. Seconds later, Lamarre's probing ball in behind the defence for Ezurike tested the courage of Esson, but she was brave in the face of the advancing forward, and stood her ground well to grab the ball on the edge of her penalty area. Seconds later, the `keeper was smothering another shot, this time a deflected effort from Zadorsky after Lamarre had crossed from a right flank - New Zealand's left - down which the Canadians were profiting from the ill-at-ease Rebecca Brown. The Young Ferns weathered the storm, however, and in the 27th minute, should have opened the scoring. White - a lively display - took advantage of some hesitant Canadian defending to head the ball through to Wall, who raced through the inside left channel to the edge of the penalty area. She shot early, but pulled her effort across the face of goal when she had time to settle herself and execute accurately. Unperturbed, the Young Ferns pressed again. Gathering a clearance, White swept the ball wide to Caitlin Campbell, galloping forward from fullback on the counter-attack. She raced on after playing the ball into McLaughlin, who had White storming up on her left in yards of space. The striker instead waited for Campbell to arrive on her right, but the fullback was crowded out. Her efforts earned a corner, however, and her delivery saw Richard rise among a cluster of Young Ferns to pluck the ball from the sky and launch a counter-attack. Cameron was the recipient of Richard's excellent distribution, but was mowed down by Wall, who hurtled back to produce a stunning tackle which contained this latest Canadian raid. In the 32nd minute, Lamarre got the better of Brown with a gorgeous body swerve inside the penalty area. She then set up Cameron, who lifted the ball over the near post. The shooter then unleashed another effort three minutes later which brought about a fabulous save from Esson, the `keeper flinging herself to her right to tip the ball round the post at full stretch. The Young Ferns custodian then denied a deflected

effort from the impressive Caroline Szwed before watching a twenty-five yarder from the same player clear the crossbar by not a lot. Three minutes before half-time, a torrent of boos cascaded around the arena, Finnish referee Kirsi Savonlainen their target, a result of awarding Canada a free-kick which never was on the edge of the Young Ferns' penalty area. Cameron was in between Fisher and the generally well performed Bridgette Armstrong, who, on this occasion, was outfoxed by the striker. The official was her next victim, the Canadian going to ground after completely miskicking the ball, and neither defender in a position to contribute to her downfall. The referee thought otherwise, however, and presented Szwed with a shooting chance in dangerous set-piece territory right on the stroke of the interval. The Young Ferns' defensive wall stood firm, however, ensuring the first half would conclude as it began, scoreless. The second spell was barely seconds old when Lamarre showed her willingness to improvise. Alexandra Smith belted over a corner which Szwed met with her head. It deflected through to Canada's star turn, whose cheeky back-heel caught Esson and company unawares as it skidded across the face of goal and past the far post. “Anything you can do, I can do also”, was Wall's response to this attempt. The effervescent number nine was generally well contained by Canadian captain Bryanna McCarthy, but on this occasion outsmarted her marker by back-heeling the ball into the path of White, whose shot on the run flashed high past the near post. Three minutes later, Annalie Longo, who was well contained in the first half, began to exploit the space a slight tactical adjustment afforded her, and it was no coincidence that the tournament's most experienced player grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck in the second spell, to such an extent that she literally ran herself to a stand-still. On this occasion, she slipped White through the inside right channel, only for Zadorsky to intervene at the expense of a corner. Campbell catapulted this beyond the far post, where Armstrong rose high to head the ball inside. There lurked McLaughlin, who instantly thrust her hands to her face after heading over from close range. Two minutes later, White forced Zadorsky into conceding another corner, and again, Campbell hoisted the ball across. Even further, this time, with Longo gathering the sphere on the far edge of the penalty area, from where she lobbed the ball in to Pearl. She headed it into the path of White, whose tame effort was out of character with her overall display. As was what happened next in game context terms, as Canada struck what proved to be the winning goal on the counter-attack. Latching onto the ball just inside New Zealand's half, Lamarre slalomed her way inside before wrong-footing Fisher and lashing a low drive beyond Esson's despairing dive into the bottom right-hand corner of the net. The Canucks celebrated wildly - and so they should, having just scored the first-ever goal in the fledgling history of FIFA's newest competition. The Young Ferns were stunned by this 53rd minute blow, but it proved to be the catalyst which ignited a storming second half display, one which captured the imagination of many more than the many present. From here on in, Canada were effectively hanging on for dear life! Their coach, Bryan Rosenfeld, acknowledged as much afterwards. “We were lucky in the end to not come out losing the game, with the chances that New Zealand had. They were putting the pressure on and we felt it”. Put the pressure on the Young Ferns most certainly did! In the 57th minute, substitute Yumi Nguyen's ball in behind the defence gave Richard plenty of cause for concern, given Wall was hovering menacingly. Karli Hedlund came to her team-mate's aid, much to the Kiwi's frustration. Five minutes later, Szwed responded with a wickedly struck free-kick from way out wide which dipped onto the roof of the net just beyond the crossbar. The resulting goal-kick produced a sustained Young Ferns attack which left Canada gasping. At its heart were the dancing feet of Longo. Supplied the ball by Wall, the playmaker sambaed, shimmied and soft-shoe-shuffled her way through three Canadian challenges in the blink of an eye, before slipping the ball into the path of Wall, who had doubled round in support as her team-mate's toes twinkled. Upon reaching the by-line, Wall laid the ball back

for McLaughlin, whose cross lacked conviction. So, too, the clearance, Campbell its recipient. She played the ball to McLaughlin, and doubled round on the overlap as the striker scythed inside before playing in the fullback inside the penalty area. A deft nutmeg of Granberg left Campbell one-on-one with the advancing Richard, who managed to earn a corner for her side, but was left counting the cost - tender ribs are the war wound she will sport from this encounter, the price for diving at her opponent's feet. Twenty minutes from time, White was fouled twenty-five yards out from goal - Campbell country. Her thumping free-kick dipped against the crossbar, while seconds later, a clever curling effort from Wall was plucked from the sky by Richard, as it arced towards the top far corner of the net. After White lashed a snapshot on the turn, a great piece of tracking work by substitute Leah Gallie broke up a rare Canadian raid, as two of their replacements, Annick Maltais and Julia Ignacio, looked to combine just outside the penalty area. The Canucks were denied again three minutes from time. Pouncing on a Nguyen blunder, the dangerous Lamarre - who was less effective following the newcomer's introduction - moved menacingly into the New Zealand penalty area. Fisher came across and partly blocked her progress, but the playmaker still managed to let fly with an effort which deflected awkwardly off Armstrong. Esson, the whites of whose eyes had hardly been sighted during the second spell, swatted the ball to safety from beneath the crossbar, with the offside trap aiding her cause in the latter stages of the attack. New Zealand was now at their wits end, but the sight of five additional minutes of playing time available to them spurred them on - surely in that time there would be at least two opportunities to net an equaliser as deserved as it was desired against the Canadians? There were. The first of them saw Gallie feed Longo, whose intoxicating two-step left Canadian substitute Alyscha Mottershead square on the seat of her pants as a result. The midfielder duly threaded a delicious pass through Canada's rearguard into White's stride, and she burst into the penalty area before unleashing a drive which Richard tipped round the far post at full stretch. Campbell's corner was cleared, and Canada thought they had done enough. But a minute still remained when Pearl hoisted the ball forward, Wall its willing pursuant through the inside right channel. With defenders scattered, she strode purposefully on before lobbing the advancing Richard … The roar of excitement instantly became a groan of despair which was encapsulated in Wall's reaction to the sight of the ball dropping onto the roof of the net, rather than under it. This could not be, surely. But alas, for the host nation, it was, and the barely audible sound of the final whistle seconds later saw a group of young women who gave everything they had to give in their pursuit of a first-up win collectively collapse to the ground, the undisguised tears of pride-tinged sorrow which almost instantly cascaded down many a cheek of those involved contrasting starkly with Canada's relief-laden victory celebrations. Young Ferns' coach, Paul Temple, summed things up succinctly afterwards. “We're still a little bit shell-shocked at the manner of the defeat. We kept trying and trying, but the goal just wouldn't come. “We did ourselves proud in terms of the performance, and showed the strong crowd that we can compete on the world stage. I think we proved to everyone that we can play and that we're exciting to watch”, said Temple of his charges' efforts, “and I think they've all gone away probably quite proud of the performance”. Sadly, it didn't have the matching result it deserved, meaning the Young Ferns are in must-win territory for the remainder of the tournament, starting with Saturday's 4pm encounter with Denmark at this venue. What odds on an Auckland crowd even bigger than this stunning opening night effort at the biggest show in town being on hand to spur them on? Young Ferns:     Esson; Campbell (booked, 61), Fisher, Armstrong, Brown (Nguyen, 54); Wall, Longo, Pearl, Crasborn (Gallie, 54); White, McLaughlin (Shea, 78) Canada:     Richard; Smith, Hedlund, Granberg, Zadorsky (Ignacio, 61); Lamarre, Szwed, Harrison, McCarthy; Cameron (Maltais, 78), Ezurike (Mottershead, 68) Referee:     Kirsi Savolainen (Finland)