The New Zealand Women’s team have booked their spots at next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil. On Wednesday, April 15, the team defeated Papua New Guinea in the final of the Oceania Confederation Qualifying Series by a score of 1-0.
Sunderland’s midfielder Katie Kitching scored the only goal of the match. She had secured the goal in the 55th minute, giving New Zealand a World Cup for the seventh time. New Guinea still have their final hope of qualifying through the inter-continental playoffs which will be held in either November or December.
New Zealand were denied twice by VAR, and four times by the woodwork. Many of their attempts were denied by New Guinea goalkeeper Betty Sam. She was brilliant and showcased a hard-working defence. In the 32nd minute, Deven Jackson had apparently scored after getting the ball from Rebecca Stott, but the VAR showed Jackson was caught by PNG’s offside trap.
Meanwhile, New Zealand got a penalty in first-half after Maya Hahn was brought down in the box. The decision, however, got overturned as the officials replayed only for more than five minutes. The team fell under the deep several times like Jackson missing an open goal in the 51st minute.
Despite missing the chance, New Guinea’s defence was brilliant. The team had earned its place in the finals after securing a 1-0 win over American Samoa. Meanwhile, New Zealand beat Fiji in the semifinals by 5-0.
New Zealand coach Michael Mayne expressed his excitement at the team’s victory and earning a spot in the Brazil World Cup.
“It’s amazing. We had a job that we had to get done tonight and we did what we needed to do to get the result. We’re over the moon with going to the World Cup and now we can plan and see what we have to do this year to get ready for the World Cup. At halftime we spoke about our finishing. Frustration had to be tempered. We were creating, we felt a goal was going to come and it was one of those games in which we had opportunities but weren’t clinical when we needed to be,” Mayne mentioned.
Meanwhile, Papua New Guinea coach Ericson Komeng shared the team’s experiences and learned to avoid the mistakes going ahead.
He said, “I’m very proud of the girls. We weren’t clinical enough tonight to compete with New Zealand but I’m proud of the girls for all the hard work they put in today. We just have to go back and work on little things and get ready for the playoff.”
