Young Ferns fall to Spain in semifinals
‘‘We had an opportunity to do something special and get to the final, but in the same sentence I’m really proud of the girls.’’ NZ coach Leon Birnie
who calmly slotted her fifth goal of the tournament.
‘‘It was probably the first time in the tournament that I can say we switched off, and it wasn’t the best time; in a semifinal. But that happens,’’ Birnie said. ‘‘They switched off and we got punished. That’s what semifinals are about; small moments in games.’’
At 1-0 down, New Zealand were still in the fight and creating half chances.
But they were on the ropes clinging for survival once Lopez laced a left-footed volley past goalkeeper Anna Leat just two minutes into the second half.
All of New Zealand’s goals against Finland, Uruguay and Japan came in the first half of those games and it was early on against Spain when they created their best opportunities too, with Gabi Rennie firing a shot into the arms of Catalina Coll, Macey Fraser rattling the crossbar and Kelli Brown whipping an audacious long-range shot just wide of the goal.
Rennie was New Zealand’s biggest threat, using her speed to good effect on the right wing, while substitute Ayla Pratt forced a superb save out of Coll when she was one-on-one with the goalkeeper just moments after her introduction.
New Zealand had five shots on target to Spain’s four, but were unable to match the gamewinning quality of their highlyfancied opponents.
‘‘Today it was one of those games where we didn’t take our chances and their first goal, we switched off, and their second was a great strike. They took their chances and in semifinals that’s the difference.’’ ❚
Semifinals: Spain 2 (Claudia Pina 39’, Irene Lopez 48’) New Zealand 0. HT: 1-0. Mexico 1 Canada 0. Playoff for third and fourth: NZ v Canada, Sunday 8am Final: Spain v Mexico, Sunday 11am
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