​The New Zealand squad has begun its final preparations for the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup by pushing Brazil all the way in a 2-1 friendly loss.
 
The Kiwis were the first nation to arrive in India – which is hosting a major international football tournament for the first time – and matches against two top-class teams were lined up to ensure they’ll be ready when the action kicks off on October 6.
 
After competing well against the South American giants overnight, Danny Hay’s side will next face their counterparts from England on Sunday.
 
They will take some degree of confidence into that challenge after holding their own against a typically classy Brazil outfit, only being outdone thanks to a double from dangerous striker Brenner at the Mumbai Football Arena.
 
New Zealand captain Max Mata got his side on the scoresheet late on after tucking away a penalty.
 
The ‘Samba Boys’ were without talisman Vinicius Junior, who is not entering the camp until Saturday, and were nearly caught out early on as New Zealand came close to opening the scoring. Forward Charles Spragg found himself with a good opportunity in front of goal but was unable to convert and there were few other chances for the Kiwis in the remainder of the half.

​Brazil flexed their muscles when Marcos Antonio fizzed a shot over the bar from just outside the area and New Zealand goalkeeper Jacob Clark was called on soon after to deny Brenner with a good save from a free kick.
 
In the second spell, Brazil exhibited their strength in depth by making a raft of changes and they had the desired effect for coach Carlos Amadeu. Just a few minutes after the restart, Brenner had his first with a powerful left-foot strike that flew into the bottom corner and it wasn’t long before he had another, this time finishing with his right foot at the near post.
 
The Brazilians went on to dominate the possession stakes but New Zealand finally earned some reward for their endeavour when former Wellington Phoenix youngster Mata was brought down in the box by Lucas Halter and got back up to calmly slot home the spot kick.
 
Although Brazil had done enough to claim the win, the two sides then engaged in a penalty shoot-out to ready themselves for that scenario arising in the knockout stages of the World Cup. The South Americans also triumphed from the spot, keeping their composure to win 5-4.
 
Hay was pleased to have given his players a hit out against such accomplished opposition.
 
“Brazil are a world-class side and have players who will make it to a big level,” he said.

The squad was financially assisted in travelling to India early for its pre-tournament preparations by the New Zealand Football Foundation and Hay is grateful for that support.
 
“Alongside New Zealand Football, they have helped us to have a world-class build-up to this World Cup and the funding they have offered us to play these games could have a massive impact on our results in this tournament.”
 
The thoughts of Hay will now turn to facing England on Sunday before leading New Zealand into Group B of the FIFA U-17 World Cup against Turkey on October 6. 

U-17 International Friendly

New Zealand 1 (Max Mata)
Brazil 2 (Brenner 2)
HT: 0-0
 
FIFA U-17 World Cup

New Zealand vs Turkey
Friday 6 October, 5.30pm (Saturday 7 October, 1am NZT)
Dr DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai
Live on SKY Sport
 
New Zealand vs Paraguay
Monday 9 October, 8pm (Tuesday 10 October, 3.30am NZT)
Dr DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai
Live on SKY Sport
 
New Zealand vs Mali
Thursday 12 October, 5pm (Friday 13 October, 12.30am NZT)
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi
Live on SKY Sport

​Two years ago at the FIFA Under-17 World Championships in Chile, Sacred Heart College student Lucas Imrie scored a last play goal against Paraguay to propel New Zealand into the round of 16 for the first time.
 
On October 6 in Mumbai, New Zealand kicks off the 2017 edition of the tournament against Turkey and another Sacred Heart lad is hoping to have a big impact in front of goal.
 
Matt Palmer scored 22 goals in the Auckland Premier League this year as Sacred Heart retained the title for the fourth consecutive season. What does Palmer expect from the Kiwis opposition in India?
 
“We’ve seen a fair bit of what our opposition can do and how they play. We expect them to be fast paced teams who play with good intent and speed. We feel Mali will be the hardest team to beat as they were second at the last World Cup,” Palmer reveals.
 
Paraguay will be intent on revenge when they meet New Zealand in the second group game. Can the South American giants be toppled again?
 
“We hope to make it out of our group and progress to the knockout stages. We have a talented team who have worked hard to get here. We will be competitive.”

Four years ago Palmer changed his position seeking greater competition himself.
 
“I started playing striker a few years ago. Previously I played fullback and moved up the pitch to be a winger. I started playing First XI football at the start of Year 12 and that has really benefitted my footballing ability. My coach Danny Hay has pushed me and given me multiple opportunities. He is the reason I made this team.”
 
Sacred Heart had to really push themselves to win the Premier League. They beat Saint Kentigern College 4-2 with two goals in the last six minutes to draw level on points with the competition leaders with two fixtures remaining. Still well behind on goal difference, Sacred Heart scored 19 goals in the last two games to pass the Pakuranga private school in a thrilling race.
 
“We knew St Kent's were going to be strong with their attack. This is because they have a strong partnership of Charles Spragg and Max Mata up front. We knew it would be a hard challenge to catch up to their goal tally, but we didn't lose faith and backed ourselves to get the goals we needed. It was a lot of fun having a greater licence to attack all out,” Palmer reflects.
 
Palmer responds quickly when asked what his favourite goal was.
 
“I'd have to say my favourite goal was in the last game of the season against Auckland Grammar which won us the league. It meant the most to me as it took us one step closer to winning the league title.”

FIFA Under-17 World Cup tidbits
 
New Zealand is competing for the eighth time. Their previous wins at the event are against Poland (2-1) in 1999, Uzbekistan (4-1) in 2011 and Paraguay (2-1) in 2015.
 
Nigeria are the defending champions and the most frequent winners of the event with five titles since 1985. Brazil have played the most matches with 75 and have enjoyed the greatest number of wins 47, scoring a record 166 goals.
 
An estimated global TV viewership of 200 million is expected in this edition. SONY TEN 2 and SONY TEN 3 are the official broadcasters and they will share its feed in over 185 countries.
 
14-year-old Freddy Adu scored a hat-trick in the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2013 and followed it up with a hat-trick in FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2007 to become the first footballer to achieve a hat-trick at the World Cups of both age levels.
 
Brazil’s Ronaldinho is the only player to have won both FIFA U-17 (1997) and FIFA World Cup Finals (2002) title.
 
Famous Names From the Past: https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/fifa-u-17-world-cup-golden-ball-winners-top-5 

The 21-player New Zealand U17 football squad has been named for the upcoming FIFA U17 World Cup.

​The squad is:
 
Goalkeepers 
Jacob Clark 
Zac Jones
Nicholas Milner                
 
Defenders
Liberato Cacace 
Boyd Curry 
Ben Deeley
Matthew Jones 
Joshua Rogerson 
Jordan Spain      
Emlyn Wellsmore            
 
Midfielders 
Willem Ebbinge 
Elijah Just 
Oliver Duncan
Kieran Richards 
Kingsley Sinclair 
Oliver Whyte
Leon Van Den Hoven  
  
Forwards             
Max Mata
Matthew Conroy
Charles Spragg  
Matthew Palmer

​Head coach Danny Hay has been happy with his team’s build-up for the tournament which has included a short training camp for fitness and conditioning testing in Auckland and a warm-up match against Auckland City FC which they won 4-1.
 
New Zealand will open their tournament against Turkey on 6 October before they meet South American powerhouse Paraguay (both in Mumbai) and then complete Group B against African champions Mali (New Delhi) in the tournament which will be contested from 6 and 28 October in six venues across India.
 
“We know that Mali, like most African nations, will be very strong in the U-17 and U-20 national teams,” said Hay.”We think they have a chance of winning the title so it will be great going up against one of the favourites. Paraguay lost only one game from 12 in qualifying for this event and Turkey were also very impressive in their qualifying only losing to England and Spain, the two top teams.  It is going to be difficult but we are all really looking forward to the challenge.”
 
Hay is pleased with the fitness levels in this NZ U-17 squad and their attacking intent which they displayed on Tuesday night against National League opposition in the Navy Blues.
 
Three of the standout performers of the OFC U-17 Championship in Tahiti were Charles Spragg (Golden Boot), Zac Jones (Golden Glove) and exciting midfielder Elijah Just.
 
“Charles has really developed in recent time and had a fine qualifying tournament,” said Hay. “He will be in good competition for a starting place as we have good depth in our forwards with the likes of Max Mata and Matt Conroy. As a former central defender, Charles is the sort of player I used to hate marking. He has great work ethic and het goes all day and that is exactly what we want from him.
 
“Eli is an exciting young kid who has spent some time training with the All Whites squad recently. He is a product of Declan Edge’s Ole Football Academy and he has done a good job with him. He has a big future.
 
 
The New Zealand U-17s will look to replicate the feats of the NZ team at the tournament two years ago in Chile where they defeated Parauguay 2-1 in their final game to make the Round of 16. They lost in the playoff stages to Brazil (1-0) but showed huge promise on the world stage.

FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 Draw

Group A: India, USA, Colombia, Ghana
Group B: Paraguay, Mali, New Zealand, Turkey
Group C: Iran, Guinea, Germany, Costa Rica
Group D: Korea DPR, Niger, Brazil, Spain
Group E: Honduras, Japan, New Caledonia, France
Group F: Iraq, Mexico, Chile, England
 
New Zealand’s Group B games at the FIFA U-17 World Cup India
Game One
Turkey
Friday 6 October, kick off 5:30pm local time (Saturday 7 October 1am NZT)
Dr DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai
 
Game Two
Paraguay
Monday 9 October, kick off 8pm local time (Tuesday 10 October 3:30am NZT)
Dr DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai
 
Game Three
Mali
Thursday 12 October, kick off 5pm local time (Friday 13 October 12:30am NZT)
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi

“I always take the first penalty. It’s been like that in every team I have played for. I love a shootout because as a goalkeeper it’s my chance to stake a claim for fame,” Keegan Hansen responds when asked if he actually enjoys penalty shootouts.

The bane of most footballers’ existence, think of David Beckham’s spectacular failures, Hansen on recent evidence appears to be speaking the truth.

At the Lotto Premier Boys National Secondary Schools Football tournament in Napier last week, Hansen was a hero in two penalty shootouts for surprise first time champions, Hamilton Boys’ High School.

Hamilton eliminated 2016 National runners up Saint Kentigern College in the quarterfinals and then denied Sacred Heart College repeat success in the decider – a far-fetched possibility at the start of 2017.

“At the start of the season we sat in a classroom and agreed on some goals for the season. We strived to make the top four at Nationals. We thought that would be really good, but for a while even that seemed really ambitious,” Hansen reveals of Hamilton’s initial targets.

In July, Hamilton stormed into the final of the perennially strong Super 8 competition, but was upstaged by Napier Boys’ High School in a penalty shootout, despite Hansen scoring with his first and only shot.
​
“We didn’t do anything about penalties before that game. We just rocked up and paid for it. After that loss we spent time after every training practicing penalties and resolved an order of shooters,” Hansen admits.

Despite defeat the Super 8 proved to be a real eureka moment.

“We really dominated that tournament and it was a letdown not to win it. We gained a lot of confidence from the way we played.”

At Nationals, Hamilton topped Pool H and then thumped Wellington College 5-0 in the Round of 16 to set up a quarterfinal meeting with Saint Kentigern College who had won all four games and scored 15 goals.

“It was 2-2 at full time which we felt was a bit harsh on us. We had played really well and deserved better. We had made most of the play, but they had caught us on the break a couple of times.” Hansen recalls of regulation time.

In the penalty shootout Hansen scored first and captures what happened next.

“Our second shooter missed which put the pressure on us. They got ahead 3-2 and then their shooter skied one. We got ahead 4-3 and then I managed to save one and we got through.”

Semi-final opponent and 2015 National champions, Nelson College hadn’t conceded a goal prior to meeting Hamilton, but were convincingly dispatched 2-0.

There would be nothing simple about foiling Auckland champions, Sacred Heart College. Hansen describes the tactical dilemma Hamilton faced.

“They are a strong outfit who score a lot of goals, but we resolved we were going to go down fighting. We knew we had to be a bit more defensive, but we didn’t want to park the bus either.”

The mix of attack and caution served Hamilton well. After regulation and extra time both teams had failed to score.
​
“I took the first penalty. I knew they would have watched our quarterfinal so instead of going for the bottom left corner which I normally do, I decided to blast it down the middle and was lucky to score,” Hansen recounts of the shootouts beginning.

Every shooter was on target until the score was 5-4 to Hamilton. Hansen was soon to have his biggest claim to fame.

“I managed to save the fifth shot. The shooter went to his left or my right and landed the ball in a good area for me. I managed to get down and palm it away.”

Luke Woolerton who started off the bench due to an ankle injury scored the last penalty for Hamilton.

In addition to his Boys’ High duties, Hansen plays for Melville United and has been involved with the New Zealand Under-17 program.

Hamilton Boys’ is the first school from the Waikato region to win the National title. They had been runners up previously.
​
Are there any secrets to being a good shot blocker?

​“Not really. I just do the traditional jump up and hit the crossbar and think about where the striker might shoot. Occasionally I might have a word or two. They are just a nervous as I am,” Hansen concluded.