Daniela Porcelli/Photosport
German goalkeeper Julia Kassen saves against New Zealand’s Alyssa Whinham during the FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup in Costa Rica.
New Zealand Junior Football Ferns’ hopes of qualifying for the second round of the FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup are now hanging in the balance after a 3-0 defeat to Germany.
Two goals in the second half of set pieces for Clara Frohlich and Sophie Weidauer and a stellar third-place finish for Gia Corley from a breakaway gave Germany a comfortable win at Costa Rica’s Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto on Sunday morning.
New Zealand started the match with some confidence after a 1-1 draw in the opening round with Mexico while Germany had suffered a surprising 1-0 defeat to Colombia.
Gemma Lewis’ side will now have to wait for the Colombia v Mexico result, which starts at 11am (NZ time) on Sunday, to see if they have any hope of making it to the next round.
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The first half was scoreless, but Germany dominated the second period after a header by Frohlich from a corner and a penalty from Weidauer, while New Zealand could only get one shot on target in the 90 minutes.
The game started in a frenetic clip with early chances on both sides.
Kiwi keeper Murphy Sheaff was at her best to thwart Germany’s Selina Vobian one-on-one in the fifth minute.
German captain Madeleine Steck found the side net after colliding with Frohlich at a corner.
The Junior Football Ferns got a golden opportunity when playmaker Alyssa Whinham landed on goal, but German goalkeeper Julia Kassen smashed the ball at the Kiwi’s feet.
Daniela Porcelli/photo sport
New Zealand’s Alyssa Whinham (No. 10) and German captain Madeleine Steck are contesting possession.
Germany lost some momentum when he had to replace striker Carlotta Wamser and skipper Steck in the first half after injuries.
Lewis would have been pleased with the efforts of the Junior Football Ferns in the first half with her defense led by captain Kate Taylor having withstood Germany’s attacks while Whinham showed some clever touches in midfield and Ava Pritchard some entrepreneurial spirit on the right flank.
Seconds before half time Lisanne Grawe popped a long-range shot into the side net for Germany, and Taylor made an essential writing-book-covering tackle to repulse a German rival.
Germany dominated possession in the first half, 57% to 43% and had 10 shots – two on target – over New Zealand’s.
The Junior Football Ferns survived a scare just seconds into the second half restart after Sheaff’s ball was knocked down, but the keeper saved the day shortly after and came down quickly to block Vobian’s shot.
Germany finally got the goal that deserved their pressure from a left corner in the 58th minute.
Frohlich soared above her marker to forcefully meet the ball and send a header into the corner of the net. Sheaff got her fingers at the ball, but couldn’t keep it out.
New Zealand immediately had a decent chance from a long free kick that went just past the head of Ava Collins.
Daniela Porcelli/photo sport
The New Zealand Junior Football Ferns line up for their game against Germany.
But any chance of a Kiwi comeback vanished when Tui Dugan turned Maja Sternad upside down in the penalty area after 64 minutes.
Stand-in skipper Weidauer sent Sheaff the wrong way and put a spot-kick perfectly into the corner of the net.
Lewis made a triple substitution for the last quarter, but Germany was still on the rise with Sternad grazing off the post with a header.
New Zealand had a decent chance to narrow the deficit after 77 minutes, but Kassen ran out of her area to get to the ball just ahead of Collins.
Kassen blocked Grace Wisnewski towards the end, but the Kiwi attacker was ruled offside anyway.
The killer blow came in the fourth minute of added time after a breakout from the Germans.
Substitute Laureta Elmazi coolly tackled Te Reremoana Walker before slipping an inside ball for Corley to score.
Germany had 55% possession and 19 shots (six on target) to six shots from New Zealand (two on target).
The Football Ferns’ final pool game will be against Colombia at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at the San Jose National Stadium.
AT A GLANCE
Germany 3 (Clara Frohlich, Sophie Weidauer pen, Gia Corley) New Zealand 0. HT: 0-0.