Tag: Falconets

Head coach of the England U20 women’s side Mo Marley has urged the Young Lions to forget the painful Canada 2014 World Cup exit suffered at the early hours of Thursday and build successful careers for themselves.

The girls failed to hold on to an early lead and fell 2-1 to the Falconets of Nigeria at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

Twelve of the squad could have played at this year’s U19 Euro finals in Norway and seven of them are still young enough to play at next year’s Euros – which also doubles up as an U20 World Cup qualifying campaign.

“I can only be proud of what the players have put into this team over the past couple of years,” Marley stated.

“We had no right to finish second in the Euros last year because we had a really, really young squad, but the players excelled and subsequently qualified for this World Cup. They were inexperienced at this level and I think that told in the end.

“Of course the players are disappointed now, but the big test is what they do next and what they learn from this whole experience. I said before the Mexico game that there is no use in us going out and doing really well in this World Cup but then none of the players make it into the senior squad in the future. This tournament has finished but there is a bigger picture. The girls must remember that.”

England went into the Nigeria game knowing a win would guarantee their progress to the last eight and

they got off to a dream start when Everton forward Nikita Parris put them in front after just five minutes.

Loveth Ayila’s first goal in the U-20 Women’s World Cup finals put Nigeria back on level terms in the 41st minute.

When the Rivers Angels striker side-footed home powerfully from 25-yards Nigeria looked to have seized the initiative at a crucial time. The second half was a tale of two penalties, with England’s Bethany Mead firstly missing after Parris was adjudged to have been fouled by goalkeeper Chiichii.

Within minutes at the other end, Asisat was brought down after dribbling into the penalty area. The starlet steadied herself before lashing in her 1st goal of the tournament from the penalty spot. The loss pushed England out of the tournament as South Korea defeated Mexico 2-1 in the other group match.

“The penalties were two significant turning points. I mentioned it in my pre-match press conference ; that’s the difference at this level. If you get an opportunity you have to be clinical.

“When they equalised our body language changed. We had played so well early on and had gone in front and when they equalised I think that was a big psychological blow. But we responded quite well. It was always going to be tough after the penalty but we tried, we pushed. The players had to take risks and that left us open.”

She continued: “I thought we started the game exceptionally well. There were a few things we identified that we could take advantage of and we did that. Once we got the goal I think we settled on that, a bit like we did in the Mexico game. We dropped off a little bit instead of taking the initiative and pushing forward.”

“It tells you how far we have come when you think back to the Euro qualifiers last year. We had to beat the host nation 2-0 to qualify for the Euros. Before that game nobody gave us a chance and we ended up winning 3-0.

“That just shows you that there is quality in this squad and we can normally produce when we need to.

“But now it’s about how the players respond. It’s about what they want for their future England careers.

“I’m sure they have learned a lot over the last 12 months. Hopefully they can use that to make them even better players in the future.”

The Europeans crashed out of the tournament alongside CONCACAF representatives Mexico.

Having now muscled their way into the global elite, Lee and her New Zealnd team-mates have expressed their desire to beat Nigeria in the quarter final of the ongoing FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada.

“We’re hungry for more,” she said, revealing the team’s desire to push beyond the quarter-finals. “We got together for a team talk a few weeks before the start of the tournament and we all felt we had the ability to reach the semis. We wanted to make the last eight but we didn’t want to just settle for that and say:  ‘We made it. That’s great’. We’re setting our sights even higher now.”

After being named Player of the Match by FIFA’s Technical Study Group, the 19-year-old midfielder was only too happy to speak to FIFA.com about her display and a historic night for New Zealand football.

“I think I had a good match,” she said with a laugh when asked if she would have voted for herself as the game’s best player. “You honestly don’t think about these things before and during the game, but when you get the award it’s very satisfying.”

Reflecting on the difficulty of the task faced by the TSG in selecting the most outstanding player of each match, she said: “I would have fretted about it if I’d had to choose, especially with this team, because we all work for each other. I had a good game, that’s true, but I would have had a real job picking out just one player. I’d have chosen the whole team.”

Lee deserved her award, leading by example and inspiring New Zealand to seize a place in the quarter-finals, an achievement she was understandably proud of.

“It’s an amazing feeling for us because this is the first time we’ve got this far in this tournament and we’re aware we’ve done something important,” said the Forrest Hill Milford United player. “I think we deserved it after all the work we’ve put in, and it feels even better when you’ve suffered to get there. It’s taken two years of preparations for us to get this far, and the girls have all put an awful lot into it. We each work for ourselves and for each other.”