Trailing to first-half goals from Stephany Mayor and Maribel Dominguez and heading to injury time, Rebecca Smith nodded home a 90th-minute corner from substitute Kirsty Yallop before 18-year-old substitute Hannah Wilkinson – briefly knocked out from a head clash moments earlier – slammed home an Ali Riley cross with the final kick of the game.
The draw sees the Football Ferns claim their first ever Women’s World Cup point in their ninth match over three tournaments since 1991.
The pre-match talk of Mexico’s lethal counter-attacking ability was right on the money and from their first turnover in midfield barely a minute into the game Moica Ocampo played in Stephany Mayor to clinically finish through Jenny Bindon for the game’s opening goal.
Mexico were chasing a large victory as part of their equation to qualify for the quarter-finals and their cause was helped when prolific captain Dominguez got a jump on the Kiwi defence in the 29th minute and was left to beat Bindon one-on-one.
But New Zealand, who had split possession evenly throughout the game, started to get more of a foothold after halftime as Mexico sat deeper and, although the Football Ferns had already enjoyed more chances than their opposition, they became more threatening in the final 15 minutes.
Substitute Ria Percival flashed two shots over the bar before Smith went just wide with a header in the dying minutes.
She made no mistake with her next chance, towering over the Mexican defence and directing her header low inside the far post.
With time running out and Wilkinson back on the field after seeing stars from a clash of heads and heavy fall, the teenager drifted off her marker, chested Riley’s cross down and finished high into the top left corner to seal a dramatic fight back.
“These girls could’ve got on the aeroplane at halftime and gone home,” New Zealand coach John Herdman said, “That was the reality.”
“They had nothing to play for other than their pride and their own identity as footballers and boy, did they go out there and show Mexico. It was magic.”
“We got some really experienced players in the team, including our captain Rebecca Smith – she’s right at the spine of it. But we’ve got a very young team. That was an 18-year-old who scored the equaliser for New Zealand.”
Meanwhile England topped the group with a 2-0 win over Japan, earning a quarter-final against France who lost 4-2 to Germany to finish behind the hosts in Group A.
The Football Ferns are eyeing international matches against top tier nations in September as part of their build up for the 2012 Olympics.
As champions of Oceania – via last year’s eight-team OFC Women’s Nations Cup – New Zealand will play off in early 2012 against the winner of a preliminary Oceania qualifying tournament to qualify for the London games.
FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011
Tuesday July 5, 2011
Rhein-Neckar Arena
Sinsheim, Germany
New Zealand 2 (Rebecca SMITH 90’, Hannah WILKINSON 90+4’)
Mexico 2 (Stephany MAYOR 2’, Maribel DOMINGUEZ 29’)
Halftime: 2-0
New Zealand: 1-Jenny BINDON (gk), 3-Anna GREEN, 4-Katie HOYLE, 5-Abby ERCEG, 6-Rebecca SMITH (c), 7-Ali RILEY, 8-Hayley MOORWOOD (11-Kirsty YALLOP 60’), 9-Amber HEARN, 10-Sarah GREGORIUS, 12-Betsy HASSETT (2-Ria PERCIVAL 79’), 13-Rosie WHITE (17-Hannah WILKINSON 55’).
Substitutes not used: 14-Sarah McLAUGHLIN, 15-Emma KETE, 16-Annalie LONGO, 18-Katie BOWEN, 19-Kristy HILL, 20-Aroon CLANSEY (rgk), 21-Erin NAYLOR (rgk).
Coach: John HERDMAN
Cautions: Rosie WHITE 33’
Mexico: 20-Cecilia SANTIAGO (gk), 2-Kenti ROBLES (15-Luz del Rosario SAUCEDO 81’), 4-Alina GARCIAMENDEZ, 5-Natalie VINTI, 6-Natalie GARCIA, 8-Guadalupe WORBIS, 9-Maribel DOMINGUEZ (captain), 11-Nayeli RANGEL (10-Dinora GARZA 46’), 18-Veronica PEREZ, 19-Moica OCAMPO, 21-Stephany MAYOR (16-Charlyn CORRAL 70’).
Substitutes not used: 1-Erika VANEGAS (rgk), 3-Rubi SANDOVAL, 7-Juana LOPEZ, 12-Pamela TAJONAR (gk), 13-Liliana MERCADO, 14-Monica ALVARADO, 17-Teresa NOYOLA.
Coach: Leonardo CUELLAR
Cautions: Maribel DOMINGUEZ 90’
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz