Dominant Kiwis take their place

Dominant Kiwis take their place


New Zealand today qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup Germany 2010 in emphatic style, beating Papua New Guinea 11-0 in the grand final of the OFC Women's Nations Cup.

The on-song Football Ferns have been in imperious form throughout the continental showpiece, and this thumping final win took their aggregate score in the tournament to a staggering 50-0. The Kiwis cruised through the group phase, beating Vanuatu, the Cook Islands and Tahiti by 14, ten and seven-goal margins respectively, and were just as impressive in putting eight unanswered goals past the Solomon Islands in the last four.

Papua New Guinea had seen off the likes of Tonga and the Cook Islands to reach the final, but they were no match for a New Zealand side who hit top form to claim the continent’s sole spot at Germany 2011. Ali Riley kicked off the scoring inside seven minutes with her first international goal before crossing for Rosie White head home the second just eight minutes later.

Ria Percival added the third soon after, and the game was over as a contest before half-time, with Hannah Wilkinson notching a quick-fire double and White completing a brace of her own. Goals number three and four would follow for White within 11 minutes of the re-start before Sarah Gregorius volleyed home to make it 9-0 with 17 minutes remaining.

By now, Papua New Guinea would have been praying for the final whistle, but there was still time for salt to be rubbed into their wounds with Amber Hearn heading home New Zealand’s tenth goal before Hayley Moorwood completed the rout with six minutes remaining.

New Zealand duly became the ninth team to qualify for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, joining AFC trio Australia, Japan and Korea DPR, UEFA quartet England, France, Norway and Sweden, and hosts Germany.