A 3-1 victory over Cameroon in Coventry last week was enough to hand Tony Readings’ charges a place in the quarter-finals as one of the two best third-place finishers at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament London 2012.
They went on to exit the event after losing 2-0 to defending champions USA but can leave London 2012 with their heads held high after a ground-breaking campaign.
“It was a historic moment for us,” says striker Rosie White, who more than played her part in the victory over Cameroon, supplying two assists to help New Zealand race into a 3-0 lead by the 62nd-minute mark.
Having represented her country throughout her teenage years, White is convinced of the quality of women’s football in her homeland.
“The fact that we’ve made it past the group stage for the first time ever shows how much we’ve progressed,” the 19-year-old says.
“We’ve grown enormously in the last four or five years but even more so in the last couple of months. We’ve shown that we can compete on the international stage. It’s a great feeling,” she adds.
“I think the main improvement has been that we can now vary our game a lot more. We can play a short passing style or we can go long. We’ve always been physically strong. Now we’ve brought everything together.”
Alongside fellow youngster Annalie Longo, two years her senior, White is the only player to have been on the pitch for all three of New Zealand’s victories at FIFA women’s tournaments. The duo were involved in the 3-1 win over Colombia at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2008 in their homeland, as well as the 4-3 triumph over hosts Chile at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup later the same year.
“Wow, that’s a pretty cool statistic, I didn’t know that,” she continues. “But it’s unique and makes me all the prouder.”
Coach Readings, meanwhile, is well aware of the quality of the young duo he has at his disposal.
“Longo is both physically and technically exceptional, even for international level. She’s got better every year,” Readings says.
“And White is showing time and again that she can score goals. She’s only just starting to realise her potential in world football.
“Both of them are absolute poster girls for our talent development. They both played their part in getting us here, to celebrate the most historic day in the history of New Zealand football.”

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