Football Ferns coach Tom Sermanni says New Zealand's run at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup is “unbelievable”.

The vastly-experienced Scot, who is a former coach of the USA Women’s National Team and the Australian Matildas, knows what is required to compete with and beat the best age group teams in the world.  He rated the performance of the Leon Birnie coached team as they upset Japan 4-3 on penalties.

The Football Ferns are in New Caledonia looking to qualify for their own FIFA Women's World Cup – they have their semi-final on Wednesday afternoon NZT – and Sermanni says they have been captivated by the performances of the NZ U-17s on the world stage.

“Unbelievable, absolutely huge,” said Sermanni when asked of the significance of that achievement. “Our girls were jumping up and down when they were watching it. [The penalty shootout] was more nerve-wracking than the games we have had so far over here. It was an unbelievable performance and a phenomenal result.”

Sermanni said his experience with the Australian team, where he took them from World No 16 to World No 8 from 2005 to 2012, underlined for him the quality of football within the Asian Football Confederation.

“When I was with the Australian team we had to qualify for youth and U-17 World Cups through Asia. The only one we ever qualified for was the first one in 2006 [FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup]. We couldn’t even get out of the Asian group to get to World Cups in Australia. The fact that New Zealand has got there and they have gone in against Japan, who in that age group are one of, if not the best teams in the world, to get the result they got and the way they did it, was just fantastic.”

Sermanni said the Football Ferns, who are looking to win the OFC Women’s Nations Cup for a sixth time, were lifted by the next generation of Football Ferns.  

“It has given everyone a boost, everyone here is jumping out of their skin when they saw the young girls winning that game. Everyone in camp was walking around with a smile on their face. They have put a smile on the face of every football supporter in New Zealand.

“Not only from a football perspective, but from a sporting perspective. It is a sensational result and achievement and we wish them all the best.”

The New Zealand U-17s will look to continue their dream run on Thursday morning against Spain in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup semi-final.

The Football Ferns will be watching after they hope to have secured their place in the OFC Women’s Nations Cup Final on Saturday 1 December.

Article added: Monday 26 November 2018