New Zealand Football: Jake Gleeson

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Jake Gleeson

Date of birth: 26/6/1990
Place of birth: Palmerston North
Position: Goalkeeper
Current club: Portland Timbers (USA)
Previous clubs: Western Suburbs, Team Wellington

‘A’ internationals: 6
‘A’ international debut: 5 Jun, 2011 vs Australia

Other National Teams: NZ U-23, NZ U-20, NZ U-17

U-23 internationals: 5
U-20 internationals: 1
U-17 internationals: 5

FIFA Tournaments: FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007

Biography

Northland born and raised, Abby Erceg first started playing for Whangarei Rovers as a five year old. A qualified personal trainer, Erceg enjoys tennis and free running in her limited spare time.

One of the youngest players to reach 50 caps, Erceg did so at great pace setting a record for 37 consecutive starting appearances from her debut in late 2006 until injury in 2009 ruled her out of a friendly in Japan. Remarkably, the only other ‘A’ international Erceg has missed since her debut was a World Cup qualifier in 2010 for which she was rested.

Of Maori (Ngapuhi) heritage, Erceg’s favourite opponents to play are New Zealand’s Trans-Tasman rivals Australia while her most memorable moment , alongside playing at the 2008 Olympic Games, is scoring New Zealand’s first ever goal at an U-20 World Cup (against hosts Russia in 2006).