Now that the dust has settled on New Zealand’s remarkable exploits at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, take a look back on some of the team’s most memorable moments of the campaign. 

Kiwis kick off in stunning fashion

Hopes were high heading into the tournament as arguably one of the most talented sides to ever represent New Zealand in this age group had been brought together. Those fires of expectation were stoked further by a pair of positive friendly results in the build-up, Des Buckingham’s young men drawing with Korea Republic before beating Mexico. That meant excitement levels were at fever pitch by the time the opening World Cup match finally rolled around and the players more than delivered, responding in stunning fashion by putting five unanswered goals past Honduras. The Central Americans had no answer for the movement and creativity of New Zealand’s attack, an own goal preceding a Ben Waine double and further strikes to Sarpreet Singh and Matt Conroy. The impressive result equalled the country’s biggest winning margin at any FIFA World Cup, not that you would have guessed from the reaction of the coaching staff and players. “For us, the performance wasn’t a surprise so you wouldn’t have seen any huge celebrations afterwards,” said Buckingham, his feet clearly planted firmly on the ground. “It’s a start and that’s all it is.”

It’s ‘Waine’s world’ in opening win

The centrepiece of that ground-breaking Honduras triumph was a double to Ben Waine, the youngest member of the squad and a player who may not have even been starting had Max Mata not been unavailable due to suspension. Just 17-years-old, the Wellington Phoenix youngster displayed his predatory instincts with a pair of fine finishes, firstly tucking in an inch-perfect low cross from Elijah Just for his first World Cup goal on tournament debut before showing outstanding technique to head in a bouncing Joe Bell delivery. The brace capped a memorable period for the talented teen, who made his first appearances in the A-League just weeks before the World Cup. “It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Waine said. “A couple of years ago when this tournament was being held in New Zealand, I was a ball boy behind one of the goals so I can’t believe it to be honest. But what a performance today from the boys. This is everything we’ve been building up to and we’ve put a lot of work into this tournament so it’s awesome to see it coming off.”

Gianni Stensness rocket seals passage

The Honduras win put New Zealand in a strong position to progress past the group stages and they completed that job in the very next game, another highly-accomplished performance accounting for Norway 2-0. The highlight of the match was undoubtedly an absolute rocket from midfielder Gianni Stensness, who picked up a loose ball just outside the area and unleashed an unstoppable strike into the top corner. It was one of the finest goals ever scored by a Kiwi on the global stage and helped New Zealand put one foot into the Round of 16. Stensness admitted he couldn’t quite believe it when his sweetly-struck effort ripped into the net. “I was sitting on the edge of the box and it kind of just popped out to me – it looked so attractive so I just hit it,” he said. “I was going for the top bins and you never really expect those to go in but I just hit that one perfectly. It was just a dream from there, it didn’t really feel real when I was running off celebrating.”

Back-to-back wins create history

That memorable Stensness strike was followed by another own goal as the team created more history for themselves with their second successive win. It was the first time the country had ever recorded back-to-back victories at an U-20 World Cup and meant New Zealand could now prepare for their third consecutive appearance in the Round of 16, regardless of the result of their final group game against Uruguay. While the quality of the team’s offensive play hit the headlines, New Zealand were just as strong at the other end in securing two clean sheets in a row. With Michael Woud providing a safe pair of hands behind them, the central defensive pairing of Nando Pijnaker and George Stanger laid a strong foundation for Buckingham’s side to build from. Fullbacks Liberato Cacace and Callan Elliot meanwhile bombed forward at every opportunity as central midfielders Gianni Stensness and Joe Bell broke up opposition attacks and passed incisively, allowing playmaker Sarpreet Singh to pull the strings for Elijah Just, Callum McCowatt and Ben Waine to run rampant. 

Woud double puts Kiwis on brink

After a fresh-look line-up was defeated 2-0 by Uruguay to sign off on the group stages, New Zealand then faced a Round of 16 clash against Colombia and came desperately close to continuing to create history. Victory against the classy South Americans would have written a new chapter as no side from these shores had ever progressed to the quarter-finals at a male U-20 World Cup. The Joe Bell-captained team faced an early setback in that quest when falling behind against the run of play early on but bounced back with an Elijah Just equaliser to make it 1-1 at the break. An engaging battle then unfolded with the action swinging from end to end but neither side was able to take advantage of the numerous chances created. The outcome was then left to be decided from the penalty spot and goalkeeper Michael Woud appeared to have made a match-winning hero of himself by saving Colombia’s first two efforts. He then made yet another block to seemingly complete his hat-trick but that third save was ruled out by the officials and Colombia netted from the retake, hauling themselves back into the shoot-out before prevailing 5-4 to break New Zealand’s hearts.

It was a cruel way for New Zealand to exit the tournament after performing so well across their four matches and Buckingham had nothing but praise for his charges. “The way they’ve just played, they’ve shown that New Zealand players can not only compete but can also win on the world stage,” he said. “I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved, individually and collectively, and how we’ve represented the country. We’ve come here and outplayed teams. We have good players and you’ve seen that again tonight. It’s a horrible way to exit the tournament, especially when you’re that close to creating history, but I couldn’t be prouder of every single one of them.”

Article added: Monday 10 June 2019