We’re living in the short shadow of the FIFA Women’s World Cup right now and therefore the present state of the Football Ferns has been in full focus. Coach Jitka Klimková has also made a strong point of highlighting the historic past of the New Zealand national team, making sure that all her players are aware of what’s gone before them. Good yarns there but also hiding in that shadow, along with that past and present, has been the future.

The New Zealand U19’s Women just spent a couple of weeks in Fiji working on qualifying for next year’s U20 World Cup. The Oceania Women’s U19s Championships. Coach Leon Birnie took along a squad of 18 players all based in NZ with the exception of two who’ve moved overseas since the last National League season. It was a squad that also included a large Wellington Phoenix contingent with exactly half of them coming from that club, eight on the academy side plus Zoe McMeeken who has had a senior contract with the Nix for the last two years.

Should point out here that the Welly Nix Academy’s women’s side has only this year begun partaking in the Central League men’s U17s division, hence many of those players are fresh recruits from other parts of the country. Aimee Feinberg-Danieli and Manaia Elliott played for Auckland United last season, for example. They’re actually both from the Waikato region originally, as is Ella McMillan. Rebekah Trewhitt is from Palmerston North. You get the idea. The two overseas players are Emma Pijnenburg at Feyenoord and Kiara Bercelli at Sampdoria, both in the academy systems of those storied clubs, both cashing in on family heritage to get those deals. Pijnenburg was formerly at Western Springs while Bercelli played for Canterbury United.

This campaign also flows on smoothly from the U17 World Cup last year. For most of them anyway. There are two-year cycles between World Cups but three years between 17s and 20s which means there are a couple older players who’ve come into contention for the twenties who weren’t eligible for the seventeens. But 14/18 players who went to Fiji were also part of that U17 World Cup group... while keeper Charlotte Eagle was set to join them until she got injured. The three others are Pijnenburg, McMeeken, and Danielle Canham. The first two were too old for that 17s team (in fact they both went to the U20 World Cup) whereas Canham simply earned her way on the back of some excellent National League form.

Keep in mind that by the time the U20 World Cup rolls around Milly Clegg will still be eligible. She was one of the kiwi stars at that U17WC but obviously she had more important things going on in her life while these Oceania Championships were going down. You know, like preparing to play at a senior World Cup at just 17 years of age. That kinda thing.

All throughout this tournament we saw a theme of constant rotation from Coach Birnie. That even went as far as the captaincy with four different players wearing the armband across five games. S’pose that means we can call Manaia Elliott the official captain since she’s the only one who bore that responsibility twice... including in the grand final. Elliott captained at that U17 World Cup as well so that makes sense.

With an 18-player squad and five subs allowed, almost everyone got minutes with each fixture. There only had to be one outfield player left on the bench by the end of any game. In the opener against hosts Fiji they picked something pretty close to the top eleven with only one difference between that and the grand final starting eleven... but in between everybody got starts. Literally everybody. There was a bit of a break between the group stage and the knockouts due to NZ being in a group with only three teams and thus effectively skipping out the final matchday but even then the rotation continued. Which made sense. For experience and also to manage the conditions. This tournament took place over two main grounds and let’s just say that by the end of things that ball wasn’t necessarily running flat along the turf. Let alone the island humidity even in the middle of winter, with hydration breaks still common.

That first game wasn’t very good. The kiwis were able to nurse out a 3-0 victory but all three goals were as much to do with poor goalkeeping as they were good attacking football. There was an overeagerness to push passes in behind the defence which turned a lot of the action into a physical duel that the NZers couldn’t win. This despite clearly having the talent to be able to let the ball do the work with slick shorter passing. They got away with that in their first game... and then quickly made adjustments.

It must have just been first game nerves because against Papua New Guinea in game two there was none of that route one impatient stuff. Seven changes were made to the starting team and the most crucial of those was the elevation of Helena Errington to the XI as her composed midfield antics made all the difference. Chuck in some speedy forwards who were given time to make runs off the ball and it soon got out of hand for PNG. Alexis Cook and Zoe Benson were in a personal battle for goals, finishing with four apiece in an 11-0 rout. It was 6-0 after only 21 minutes and PNG subbed off their keeper not too long after that point. Could have even been worse for them.

It did get worse for the Solomon Islands in the next round. Goals on top of goals on top of goals. Once the first flew in from Ella McCann after nine minutes it was floodgates. McCann completed her hat-trick in just the 34th minute. Kiara Bercelli joined her there one minute later and went on to add a fourth to her tally. Ruby Nathan had to wait until the 51st minute for her third but she played the full game and ended up with five of the suckers. Zoe Benson also bagged a trio of her own. Four separate players with hatties. No need to hyper-analyse that game... it ended up as a 19-0 victory.

The semi-finals saw the Cook Islands step up against the NZers and they actually put up a solid fight. Their goalie, Kimberley Uini, was awarded the player of the day honours on the back of several impressive saves although you know how this story goes. Aotearoa still got five, all different scorers. Credit to the Cook Islands for keeping the kiwis quiet until the 22nd minute (when an own goal broke the defences) which was the longest any team managed all tourney but they never went close to scoring so it was always only a matter of time.

Finally, it was a rematch with Fiji for the championship. This time the kiwis were much sharper. This time they backed themselves to make that extra pass. This time they rolled Fiji 7-0 with a very impressing showing despite some obvious and inescapable fatigue on top of the shredded state of the pitch. Manaia Elliott scored a double to get things going, Ruby Nathan also scored twice to leapfrog a few of her teammates to win the tournament Golden Boot. It was another resounding victory in a tournament full of them and with that New Zealand are going to the Women’s U20 World Cup in 2024.

45 goals scored and 0 conceded. Even by NZ in Oceania standards that’s utterly emphatic. The did have a few defensive troubles in that first game, with Fiji genuinely unlucky not to level it up while it was still 1-0 that day. However from then on there was next to nothing to threaten their goalkeepers. Untroubled at the back. Barely a tricky save to make. All the while the goals were flying in up the other end.

The funny thing about it is this team had way more attacking depth than defensive depth. When they wanted to rotate central defenders Marie Green and Ella McMillan they had to ask folks to do a shift out of position. Danielle Canham, a midfielder, spent half a game at CB. Rebekah Trewhitt, usually a fullback, had to do so a mulitiple times. Meanwhile they were always rolling subs in the front four to ensure that everyone got as much action as possible... hence the copious quantity of goal scorers.

A New Zealand football team with more attacking depth than defensive depth? People, we used to pray for days like these. And this was without Milly Clegg involved... otherwise 19-0 might have been the baseline rather than the high-water-mark. Because, believe it or not, it should be said that the finishing wasn’t always up to scratch. They benefited from some poor goalkeeping in the early games and missed some good looks throughout. But finishing is something that gets better with experience so no need to panic (particularly not after a +45 goal bonanza).

Helena Errington won the Golden Ball for the tournament’s finest player. A fair reflection of one of the elite talents coming through kiwi footy right now. Errington has an excellent touch, understands how to affect the tempo of a game from midfield, can place a quality through ball, and was even tossing in stepovers during her time in Fiji. When those Welly Nix scholarship contracts start being handed out you’d have to imagine that Helena Errington will be at the front of the queue.

But she’s far from the only top tier talent who was on display here. The one pity of the competition was that we only got sparse viewings of Errington and Emma Pijnenburg both out there at once in the same midfield. Pijnenburg does a lot of similar things to Errington, perhaps a little less of an instigator with her short passing but even better at splitting the defence with a killer key pass.

Ruby Nathan’s goal tally was mightily impressive especially as it kinda felt like she wasn’t at her best here. Nathan was joined by her former Auckland United teammate Milly Clegg in playing at both the U17 and U20 World Cup last year (Clegg even scored at both). From there she dished up copious assists in the National League... but was often cramped for space against deep defensive lines with the U19s. And yet she still won the Golden Boot. Nathan’s skill and vision are her key traits though her height will likely become even more of an advantage as she gets a bit older.

It’s hard to separate all the wingers, especially with so many goals between them. Manaia Elliott is probably the best of them, strong and direct and a great leader as well... she shapes to be more of a fullback once she gets to the professional ranks but the fact she’s playing more as a winger at this level shows the all-around ability she’s got. Zoe Benson is a slippery dribbler and a fine finisher with a knack for popping up in the right spots. Kiara Bercelli is all energy and loves to run at a defender. Alexis Cook is lightning quick and also clearly knows where the goal is – although she did go off injured in the semi-final which hopefully wasn’t as serious as it looked. Also Lara Colpi is small but clever, puts in a wonderful cross, and is versatile enough to play in several other positions (midfield, fullback, etc).

As for the defensive line, they didn’t really get to do much. The build-up play had a couple sketchy moments yet it’s hard to judge under these circumstances. Aimee Danieli has already proven herself as one of the best goalkeeping prospects going around but didn’t get to add many highlights to the reel over here. That’s okay. That balance will likely shift entirely in the other direction when it comes to the U20 World Cup itself and the defensive comrades will get their chance to shine.

You never know for sure which players will kick on from these youth teams. Leon Birnie was also coach for that 2018 U17s team that won a bronze medal and from that squad there are a couple in the Football Ferns World Cup squad, a couple having settled in A-League footy already, a pair playing for other nations, and a couple who don’t seem to be playing football at all any more.

But a very significant event is about to hit our shores and women’s football in Aotearoa may never be the same (in a good way, chill). Even without the World Cup, there are still more kiwi wahine getting pro gigs around the world than ever before – we’re basically at the point where we could pick a Ferns squad without any amateurs and soon enough that won’t require the bulk of them to be ALW players. This U20s squad are probably going to be the first wave to fully experience that. These are exciting times.

NZ 3-0 Fiji (Group Stage)

Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Aimee Feinberg-Danieli | Rebekah Trewhitt, Marie Green, Ella McMillan, Zoe McMeeken (c) | Emma Pijnenburg, Charlotte Mortlock | Manaia Elliott, Ella McCann, Kiara Bercelli | Ruby Nathan

Subs Used: Alexis Cook (Bercelli 63’), Helena Errington (Mortlock 63’), Zoe Benson (McCann 73’), Suya Haering (McMeeken 73’), Danielle Canham (Nathan 82’)

Goals: Pijnenburg (15’) & Trewhitt (65’, 74’)

NZ 11-0 Papua New Guinea (Group Stage)

Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Charlotte Eagle | Rebekah Trewhitt, Marie Green, Ella McMillan, Suya Haering | Lara Colpi, Danielle Canham | Manaia Elliott (c), Helena Errington, Zoe Benson | Alexis Cook

Subs Used: Kiara Bercelli (Elliott HT), Ruby Nathan (Cook 65’), Charlotte Mortlock (Canham 65’), Zoe McMeeken (McMillan 76’)

Goals: Elliott (3’), Cook (12’, 20’, 24’, 54’), Benson (21’, 37’, 48’, 56’), Errington (18’, 71’)

NZ 19-0 Solomon Islands (Quarter-Final)

Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Charlotte Eagle | Zoe McMeeken, Marie Green, Ella McMillan, Suya Haering | Emma Pijnenburg (c), Danielle Canham | Zoe Benson, Ruby Nathan, Kiara Bercelli | Ella McCann

Subs Used: Charlotte Mortlock (Pijnenburg HT), Helena Errington (McMillan HT), Lara Colpi (McMeeken HT), Rebekah Trewhitt (Green HT), Alexis Cook (McCann 63’)

Goals: McCann (9’, 28’, 34’), Nathan (13’, 43’, 51’, 88, 90+1’), Benson (13’, 55’, 62’), Canham (16’, 39’), Bercelli (19’, 23’, 35’, 74’), Pijnenburg (45+1’), Lara Colpi (68’)

NZ 5-0 Cook Islands (Semi-Final)

Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Aimee Feinberg-Danieli | Manaia Elliott, Rebekah Trewhitt, Marie Green, Zoe McMeeken | Charlotte Mortlock, Helena Errington (c) | Alexis Cook, Emma Pijnenburg, Lara Colpi | Ella McCann

Subs Used: Zoe Benson (Cook 41’), Ella McMillan (Green HT), Ruby Nathan (McCann 66’), Kiara Bercelli (Pijnenburg 66’), Danielle Canham (Errington 66’)

Goals: Own Goal (22’), Pijnenburg (26’), Colpi (45’), Nathan (70’), Bercelli (87’)

New Zealand 7-0 Fiji (OFC U19s Women’s Championship Grand Final)

Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Aimee Feinberg-Danieli | Rebekah Trewhitt, Marie Green, Ella McMillan, Zoe McMeeken | Helena Errington, Emma Pijnenburg | Manaia Elliott (c), Ruby Nathan, Kiara Bercelli | Ella McCann

Subs Used: Zoe Benson (Bercelli 63’), Charlotte Mortlock (McCann 63’), Lara Colpi (Elliott 63’), Suya Haering (Trewhitt 71’), Danielle Canham (Errington 71’)

Goals: Elliott (13’, 30’), McCann (41’), Nathan (52’, 66’), Mortlock (75’), Pijnenburg (78’)

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