Football: New Zealand women under 17 lose semi-final against Spain

The dream race of the New Zealand women's under-17 team at the FIFA World Cup is over.

Leon Bernie's team was beaten 2-0 by Spain during the semifinal in Montevideo this morning.

The goals of Pina and Irene on either side of the half helped Spain to qualify for the final against Mexico or Canada.

New Zealand will play Sunday's bronze final against the loser of the second semifinal.

The under-17s were the first New Zealand team to win the FIFA World Cup after beating Japan in the quarter-finals.

"We knew that today was going to be a challenge and we knew it would be difficult – the first half in particular, we entrusted to them," Bernie said.

"There were long periods of that game where we had them pitch in their half and we hit the crossbar, then they went on the other side, missed a shot and then we went out. They got that first goal that was an absolute killer if I'm honest.

"I'm so proud of them, you look there today and they tried everything until the final whistle, it was a fantastic tournament, we came here, we went out. first time, then we went into seedling for the first time, this is an incredible moment in our country for football.

"They will be disappointed tonight, but we are going to get back into the game and we have this playoff game, and if we win that, it will be another special moment."

As one could expect due to his style of possession, Spain took advantage of the ball, but New Zealand insisted on every opportunity and had the best on the sight. They had good pressure around 15 minutes before Kelli Brown tried his luck from a distance, but she was far from goal and her looping effort dropped just over the top corner.

Despite all their possessions, Spain struggled to create anything in the future, thanks in large part to several essential interventions by the inspiring New Zealand captain Aneka Mittendorff. In the 26th minute, Gabi Rennie was playing on the right with Amelia Abbott, but her shot from a narrow angle could not beat Spanish goalie Catalina Coll in her 26th minute. next to the post office.

A few minutes later, New Zealand was even closer to the opener when Coll was touched by a perfectly placed strike from Macey Fraser, who rebounded violently on the crossbar. It was only in the 34th minute that Spain approached a goal, captain Clàudia Pina peeked at the base.

But the same player would soon be responsible for giving them the lead when a center broke in the box and she crashed in front of Leat to put Spain in the lead at the break.

The underdogs had to start well in the second half to get back into the match, but the highly accomplished Spaniards were not about to leave a place in the final they missed and they increased their lead shortly after the restart, amazing way. Irene López found herself facing a loose ball off the surface and released an unstoppable volley that made its way inside the pole for one of the tournament's goals.

If he needed it, it was a reminder of the quality that the Kiwis were against and they could not produce a similar moment by trying to fight with each other.

Substitute Maya Hahn tried to get her country back in the game with a shot away from the hour, but the effort was ambitious and it was wide. Anna Leat had been forced to make a good backup to her next post earlier, but had nothing else to do, Spain not threatening to seriously strengthen her lead.

New Zealand continued to press for its hopes alive and its best half time came when a pair of substitutes joined to give a positive effect in the 83rd minute. Britney Cunningham-Lee chose Ayla Pratt with a perfect deep pass, but Coll did well to get out and block Pratt's effort at close range.

Worker Grace Wisnewski then seized a defender in possession of the ball and fired a shot under pressure, but Coll managed to make a comfortable stop while Spain closed the match.

New Zealand will now face Mexico or Canada in the playoff for third place at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup on Sunday morning (NZT).