One of the major hurdles that New Zealand’s senior football teams face is the gulf between qualifying for major tournaments (or intercontinental playoffs) by dominating Oceania teams and then having to switch into underdog mode once they get to those major tournaments. Generally resulting in... well, bad results.

But in recent years there’s been a different trend coming through the age grade levels. Most famously the U17 women’s team that claimed bronze at their World Cup in 2018. Then there was the U20 men’s team that made the knockouts in 2019, only losing on penalties to Colombia (and controversially too). And can’t forget that other penalty shootout defeat... the men’s Olympic team (U23s) last year in Tokyo, losing in the quarters to hosts Japan.

These Aotearoa youth teams are rocking up to important tournaments and winning games. They’re playing impressive football in the process too. Not something we’re used to but if it keeps happening then perhaps that oughta change. Age grade internationals did have to go on the backburner for a couple years there for covid reasons but they’re back on the boil now and, as far as New Zealand is concerned, picking up where they left off. Because there’s an U20 Women’s World Cup starting next week and we’ve every reason to think that the kiwi team could do some damage.

We already saw this team in action a few times earlier in the year. We’ve also seen a lot of them in action in a different context. See, as valuable as the Wellington Phoenix wahine are in their own right, they also happened to double up as handy preparation for this U20 campaign. Gemma Lewis coaches both teams for starters. Plus the initial SheNix squad had a youthful twist which not coincidentally involved many players in line for this same U20 squad. The spine of the team has already been operating together for months. Building a tactical baseline, gaining that footballing familiarity. And doing so at a senior professional level too, giving this team a massive headstart on other U20 cycles.

Which brings us back around to the two short series they had against their Australian counterparts. There was a 5-1 loss and a 1-1 draw in Canberra back in April – games that got a full write-up over here. Then in June they played the Aussies again in Auckland with a 2-1 win and 1-0 loss unfolding. Those AKL games weren’t televised, in fact the second was played behind closed doors, but were still genuine international fixtures against a strong team and the Junior Ferns were extremely competitive – even winning a rare match against Australia in the process. Tui Dugan and Kate Taylor scored the goals that day. Massive result.

The World Cup draw wasn’t entirely kind as the New Zealand team was dropped into Group B alongside Germany, Mexico, and Colombia. Tricky days but the strength of senior teams doesn’t necessarily translate to youth teams. Having said that, the Football Ferns beat Colombia at the 2016 Olympics and Mexico have failed to qualify for the last two World Cups (including the one in NZ/Aus next year), plus they didn’t win a game at any of the three that they did make (then again, neither have we). Germany will be ruthless... but then you never know with these things. These Junior Ferns are poised for an upset.

• New Zealand vs Mexico - Thursday 11 August at 8am NZT

• New Zealand vs Germany - Sunday 14 August at 5am NZT

• New Zealand vs Colombia - Wednesday 17 August at 11am NZT

Often teams will do this thing ahead of tournaments where they organise friendlies against nations who play in a similar style to those that they’ve been drawn against in the real stuff. One more reason why the Ferns oughta have no worries organising games between now and the next World Cup – either against Australia’s impending opponents or simply against teams wanting to scout out the land of Aotearoa. Anyway, Gemma Lewis spoke on SENZ the other day about having pre-WC friendlies lined up against Costa Rica and Brazil – seeking to mimic the prospects of facing Mexico and Colombia respectively. Costa Rica and Brazil are also both in Australia’s group so it goes both ways. How convenient.

There’s a bit of precedence here too. The U20 Women have tended to go alright at these things, winning 5 and drawing 4 of their 22 previous games at World Cups. They even made the quarters back in 2014 with a squad that featured current Ferns Katie Bowen, Meikayla Moore, CJ Bott, Daisy Cleverley, Ashleigh Ward, and Emma Rolston. Lily Alfeld was in that team too. Back in 2014, as that tournament began, only the Men’s U17s had ever made the knockout stages of a World Cup before. Since then all four youth grade teams have progressed that far at least once – and that’s keeping in mind that the last cycle of World Cups (which would have included the U20 cycle for the 2018 U17 Women’s team) were canned due to the pandemic.

Put simply there’s probably never been an NZ age grade team better prepared for a major tournament than this one. Tactical familiarity, a high number of professionals, good calibre warm-up games, impressive results in friendly matches... every box is ticked. As to the players themselves, here’s the squad that’s currently in Costa Rica preparing for the event...

Of those 21 players, eight of them were in last season’s Welly Nix squad: Alyssa Whinham, Ava Pritchard, Brianna Edwards, Charlotte Lancaster, Grace Wisnewski, Kate Taylor, Te Reremoana Walker, and Zoe McMeeken. That’s already a pretty impressive core of the team to build from, even before you chuck in Marisa van der Meer who spent the previous A-League season with Melbourne City or Ava Collins who has been capped several times by the Football Ferns in the past year. Collins is joined by Kate Taylor as a full international – although Aniela Jensen and Marisa van der Meer have both been included in Ferns squads.

MVDM and Wisnewski, along with Macey Fraser, are the three members of the 2018 U17s who are still young enough to be involved in this cycle. The only three, which is a shame. Can’t help but wonder what that team might have done had they had another World Cup to partake in.

Having said that, the top players from that group are having no dramas advancing their careers. Anna Leat is playing WSL in England, now with Aston Villa. Mackenzie Barry, Kelli Brown, and Wisnewski were in that first Welly Nix squad. Gabi Rennie is a regular Footy Fern selection. Amelia Abbott and Maggie Jenkins have been capped at senior level. Maya Hahn is no longer affiliated with Aotearoa but she’s doing great things, recently signing with Bundesliga club Turbine Potsdam. Jayda Stewart has also swapped allegiances and check this out...

This U20 cycle is the next wave after that. Same as how those U17s missed out on their U20 run, this U20 run missed out of their U17 World Cup. Another reason why they needed those Aussie games because this group didn’t even have the chance to get together for qualifiers. Instead the previous wave’s qualification was simply passed along to the next tournament so as not to have to organise another OFC tournament amidst the pando. Same thing happened with Costa Rica as hosts of this World Cup – they were supposed to have the last one but then that didn’t happen so FIFA just kicked the can down the road two years.

These tourneys are also pretty useful for career purposes, let’s not forget. These are high level games of football that are widely broadcast. Perfect for highlight reels. Ideal for scouting purposes. On that note the Phoenix have done pretty well to lock down Kate Taylor, Alyssa Whinham, and Brianna Edwards for next season already – although we already know they can’t fit everyone from last season’s squad back (not after signing Betsy Hassett and upgrading Whinham’s deal from a scholarship to a full contract). So there are a fair few of the other Nixers who might be viewing this as a shop window.

Not only them but also the plentiful talent in this squad that is yet to play professionally at all. Ava Collins stands out as a fully capped international. She’s currently at St John’s University in the USA. Aniela Jensen (University of the Pacific), Murphy Sheaff (Jacksonville Uni), and Tupelo Dugan (Arizona State) are the others currently going down that pathway. Elsewhere Ella Findlay and Jana Niedermayr are at Eastern Suburbs. Milly Clegg and Ruby Nathan are at Auckland United. Macey Fraser is listed as being a member of the Wellington Phoenix Academy though she wasn’t in the women’s squad (Tui Dugan was also a Welly Nix Academy participant prior to heading to the USA).

(Umm, on that topic... did you notice in the big team pic how Dugan and Fraser have swapped jerseys? Each was holding the other’s shirt. Dugan was also Fraser’s family representative in the presentation, as seen in that vid. Dunno if there’s any relevance to this but it was funny to spot.)

The rest are all a part of NZ Football’s A-League Off Season Programme - which seems to be a post-Welly Nix version of the Future Ferns Development Programme. That thing’s not only for last season’s A-Leaguers though. Can’t seem to find a public squad list anywhere but from this squad alone we’ve got Charlotte Wilford-Carroll, Emma Pijnenburg, and Rylee Godbold involved who didn’t have ALW gigs last term. Remember that there is an allowance out there for Australian ALW clubs to sign a subsidised kiwi player to their roster which is hopefully going to be utilised a lot more widely this upcoming season. Any players that don’t get Phoenix deals from this wider group will surely be shopped around to various other clubs.

Should also make a note here of the players who missed out on selection. The World Cup squad is smaller than the ones that were picked for the two Aussie series and there were already a few changes between those two squads. Kate Duncan got a shout out in the announcement as someone who would have been on the plane had she not gotten injured. Others to have featured against Aussie not to make the World Cup: Rene Wasi, Olivia Ingham, Kitty Jacob, Jemma Catherwood, Chloe Bellamy, and Alina Santos. Can’t pick everyone... and this squad does have an unusual level of depth in the midfield and attacking areas for an Aotearoa football team.

Speaking of which, it feels like there are only a few locked on players in that starting eleven. Kate Taylor will certainly be there at CB. Brianna Edwards at goalie. Probably gotta have Marisa van der Meer at fullback (although which side she plays is up for grabs). Alyssa Whinham has some competition for the number ten role but hard to see her missing out there. Also Ava Collins is a good shout to start in the front three, it’s just a matter of where in the front three.

Because, again, there’s a heap of options there. Ava Pritchard was first choice on the right wing for the Phoenix. Charlotte Lancaster played well at left wing in the first series against Australia. Tui Dugan is also in competition for that spot. Whinham could operate as a winger which would allow someone like Macey Fraser or Aniela Jensen to feature as the ten instead. Not to mention Milly Clegg who is probably the most naturally gifted number nine in the group. Can’t forget Ruby Nathan either who’s been scoring for fun alongside Clegg at club level lately.

Grace Wisnewski is likely to start in the midfield but we can’t be a hundy percent sure of that given the other CMs available. Macey Fraser is an excellent technician with a creative eye. Charlotte Wilford-Carroll is going to win pretty much every tackle. Aniela Jensen is a really clever passer. As is Mona Walker who also brings a strong defensive presence... but might be preferred at CB alongside Kate Taylor. Ella Findlay’s another one who’d do a fine job in the middle of the park. Emma Pijnenburg too. You’d almost have to say there are too many midfielders here... probably a clue that Mona Walker, and perhaps others, will be used more as a defender.

Walker and Taylor have an existing combination from the Welly Nix. Mackenzie Barry missed a couple games last season with an ankle injury which allowed Walker to deputise for her alongside Taylor. Chuck those two in the middle with MVDM on the left and Zoe McMeeken on the right and that’s an all ALW backline. Jana Niedermayr is another specialist CB. A few of those other midfielders are likely to be in that chat as well.

But this selection speculation doesn’t really matter, it’s just a way to offer more of a glimpse into the structure of the squad. What matters is that there’s an U20 World Cup team about to rip into action with the potential to do something really special. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. Every other team is trying their best and preparing as well as they can too... but the point is that these kiwi teams aren’t just making up the numbers at these things any more. And this team... this team has a vibe about them. Not sure how else to put it. There’s just a good feeling about them. Anticipation levels are high. Best pay attention.

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