Teen claims first international football win

Mention football, and Aniela Jensen lights up.

She should. She is fresh from her first international victory at the Oceania Football Confederation under-16 Women’s Championship.

The 15-year-old Palmerston North Girls’ High student played an attacking midfielder as part of a 25-member squad who travelled to Samoa for the tournament, during August.

They played five games, finishing with a 6-0 finals victory against New Caledonia.

‘‘It was such a cool experience, to have all the athletes surrounding you, and the coaches,’’ she said.

Aniela was selected after club and school tournament performances and national training sessions.

‘‘In this team I had to really play hard to get my role, to get onto the pitch. Everyone was fighting really hard and I got into the starting lineup for the finals.’’

Aniela’s father Kyle Jensen coached local teams for Marist FC and Massey University, and her older sister has captained the Girls’ High team, so she grew up immersed in football.

‘‘It’s a passion. I’ve loved it all of my life, watching it, playing it. I started playing when I was 4, but I started kicking a ball as soon as I could walk.

‘‘Both my parents are quite supportive and it’s good because they’ve pushed me. I can come home and trust that [Dad] will tell me what I’m doing bad and need to improve on.’’

Aniela hopes to be part of the New Zealand U-17 team to play at the Uruguay Fifa Women’s World Cup in November and December next year and will be training hard.

Facing players from Europe is a measuring stick she looks forward to.

Afterward, her next big goal is to earn a football scholarship to an American university to play and study.