The New Zealand women’s team competing at the FISU World University Futsal Championship has made history by claiming their country’s first ever win at a global futsal event with a thrilling 5-3 success over hosts Kazakhstan.

The ‘Uni Futsal Ferns’ had seen their male counterparts fall 8-1 to Belarus a day earlier as the tournament kicked off and were determined not to suffer the same fate at a boisterous Almaty Arena overnight.

Despite Kazakhstan enjoying home advantage in front of their rowdy fans, it was New Zealand who took the early lead through Dayna Manak. After an even opening, the Kiwis then made it 2-0 through Tessa Leong and were by now beginning to take control of the game.

Their dominance was underlined when Sarah Alder fired in a third and they continued to look the better team for the remainder of the half. But goalkeeper Rivalina Fuimaono was forced into a series of outstanding saves before the break and was beaten once as Kazakhstan kept their hopes alive.

That goal seemed to inspire the hosts, who carried their new-found momentum into the second period and soon had the scores locked at 3-3. The New Zealand ranks then suffered a blow when Ella James went down with a knee injury and Kazakhstan appeared to have taken charge of proceedings, their enthusiastic supporters giving the impression it was now their side’s game to lose.

But, in a frantic finale in which both teams threw everything at getting a win, New Zealand edged in front through Britney-Lee Nicholson and Dayna Manak then scored her second with only a few minutes left on the clock to seal a memorable victory – one of the most significant in New Zealand Football’s futsal history.

Previously, futsal national teams from these shores had only triumphed internationally in Oceania tournaments and coach Nic Downes was delighted to finally break his country’s global duck.

“It was a pretty amazing game,” he said.

“We got off to a great start and scored pretty early on which settled the nerves. We were looking good at 3-0 but unfortunately conceded one right on half time and Kazakhstan then came out, wore us down and turned the momentum their way. But we dug in deep and managed to bring it back. It was an end-to-end game with lots of chances for both teams so we’re pretty happy to have got the win.”

The New Zealand men also took on the hosts in their second match of the tournament and couldn’t replicate the women’s ground-breaking victory but will be pleased with their efforts nonetheless after a much improved performance.

Marvin Eakins' side had been outclassed by a rampant Belarus on the opening day and were up against arguably an even better outfit in Kazakhstan but, from the opening minutes, it was clear they had lifted themselves to another level.

With Vaughan Somerville again outstanding in goal, the New Zealand defence proved difficult to break down while they also looked more patient and composed on the ball as the game went on, stringing together some quality passages of play.

The ‘Uni Futsal Whites’ went in a goal down at half-time but would have felt the scoreline did not reflect their display and picked up where they left off in the second spell, enjoying a more even level of possession and continuing to thwart the hosts’ goal-scoring chances. Kazakhstan did eventually find the net again – much to the delight of their vociferous fans – to claim a 2-0 win but Eakins will reflect on the many positive aspects to come from the improved showing.

“It was an incredible atmosphere and we wanted to come out with a better performance than last night,” said Luc Saker, who is from the Victoria University of Wellington and also stars for the Futsal Whites senior national team.

“We worked really hard for each other and were only down 1-0 for long periods of the game. We had some great opportunities to equalise and we’ve never been closer to beating a top side in the world before.”

The men will now take on Czech Republic in their final match of the FISU World University Futsal Championship overnight while the women have two group matches remaining, against France and Portugal respectively.

For tournament information please visit wucfutsal2018.com and for coverage of the New Zealand teams please follow www.facebook.com/NZFFutsal

FISU World University Futsal Championship Results

Women:

New Zealand 5 (Dayna Manak 2, Tessa Leong, Sarah Alder, Britney-Lee Nicholson)
Kazakhstan 3 (Sadvakassova 2, Kudaibergenova)
HT: 3-1

Men:

New Zealand 0
Kazakhstan 2 (Chernomordov, Knaub)
HT: 0-1

New Zealand 1 (Jordi Ditfort)
Belarus 8 (Lavor 2, own goal, Kniha 2, Yeudakimau, Sialiuk, Baturyn)
HT: 0-7
 

Upcoming Fixtures

Women:

vs France

August 21, 12pm (6pm NZT)

vs Portugal

August 22, 4pm (10pm NZT)

Men:

vs Czech Republic

August 21, 8pm (August 22, 2am NZT)

Article added: Tuesday 21 August 2018