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| New Zealand Sophie Steward Hobbs (White) and USA Emily (Foxx Blue) tussle for the ball Picture by Post Courier Photographer Mark Talia |
By FIDELIS SUKINA
United States of America eased past New Zealand in a 3-1 victory in their second game in Pool C of the FIFA U20 Womens World Cup at the PNG Football stadium on the 17th of November 2016
USA opened the scoring early in the third minute when a sloppy pass by New Zealand Captain and defender Meikayla Moore to her team mate Elizabeth Anton was intercepted by United States forward Ashley Sanchez who took the advantage of kicking the goal within the 18 yard box.
Five minutes later another sloppy pass by New Zealand mid fielder Daisy Cleverley to Defender Sophie Stewart-Hobbs saw USA captain Mallory Pugh pounce on an opportunity dribbling past Meikayla Moore to score USAs second goal in the eight minute.
USA dominated the position in the first half and muscled up in attack and defense with the ferns spending most of the first half defending in their own half with USA using a short passing game to draw in the New Zealanders and using speed
USA opened the scoring early in the third minute when a sloppy pass by New Zealand Captain and defender Meikayla Moore to her team mate Elizabeth Anton was intercepted by United States forward Ashley Sanchez who took the advantage of kicking the goal within the 18 yard box.
Five minutes later another sloppy pass by New Zealand mid fielder Daisy Cleverley to Defender Sophie Stewart-Hobbs saw USA captain Mallory Pugh pounce on an opportunity dribbling past Meikayla Moore to score USAs second goal in the eight minute.
USA dominated the position in the first half and muscled up in attack and defense with the ferns spending most of the first half defending in their own half with USA using a short passing game to draw in the New Zealanders and using speed
out wide to create opportunities.
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| New Zealand Supporters Picture by Mark Talia |
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| USA Supporters Picture by Mark Talia |
New Zealand how ever held firm in defense un their scramble defense and made the US women struggle for more points leaving the score 2-0 at half time.
The second half saw New Zealand score their only goal when New Zealand forward Paige Satchell crossed the ball over to the USA goal mouth, which saw a failed clearance by USA forward Hannah Blake head the ball straight into the waiting New Zealand mid fielder Isabella Coombs for a accurate goal right in front of the posts in the 76th minute.
New Zealand’s hopes dwindled when USA substitute forward Ally Watt nailed their final goal in the 82nd minute.
New Zealand coach Leon Birnie said they anticipated a tough encounter but was glad they held the US team to minimal scoring opportunities.
“We anticipated a tough game against the USA and we struggled a bit, but it was a positive outcome for us, we stayed on them and managed to hold them from scoring more goals after the first eight minutes,”
Live your goals player of the match USA captain Mallory Pugh was happy to have scored a goal and said the team had lifted their game and had great team work.
“We kept each other’s spirits alive during the match; we had the right mentality coming into the match and we trusted each other and stuck to our game plan,” Pugh said
USA 3 (A. Sanchez 3’ M. Pugh 8’ A. Watt 82’) beat New Zealand 1 (I. Coombes 76’) crowd 2,399
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