As veterans of the competition, making their fifth appearance at this level, New Zealand will no doubt be buoyed by having experience on their side going into this encounter.
However, the side has been eliminated at the group stage in all four of their previous participations, mustering their only victories against Chile in 2008 and Switzerland in 2012.
Knowing what to expect when they take to the field against an ambitious Albirrojas side isn’t going to be easy for the Kiwis, with their South American opponents having shown they deserve to be making their touranment debut.
After making the grade at January’s South American qualifiers in Uruguay where they finished runners-up to Brazil, the Paraguayans have since produced some impressive performances in their warm up games, boosting coach Julio Carlos Gomez’s hopes of an extended stay in Canada.
“Judging by the friendlies we’ve played, I think we can expect to do well at the touranment,” he says.
“I think we’re capable of getting through to the knockout phase and maybe even reaching the final.”
He says their performace at the South American U-20 Women’s Championship was the result of two years of diligent preparations.
“We did a lot of work with the aim of improving our performance at an international level, and those preparations have paid off because we managed to qualify with players form schools and colleges, not just clubs.”
While confident he’s put in the preparations required, Gomez is also aware that the World Cup will be another step up from what the side is used to, having been through it all as coach of the national U-17 squad earlier this year.
It was their maiden appearance at a FIFA U-17 World Cup too, and Gomez believes he learned some valuable lessons that he is hoping to draw on in taking his U-20 side to Canada.
“The U-17s were physically well prepared for the South American championships, but the level at the World Cup is a different thing entirely,” he explains.
“I think we’ve done the right thing in focusing more on the team’s physical preparations, but we’re only going to find out for sure when we get to Canada and start playing. That’s when we’re going to know if we did our homework right or if we need to take a fresh look at things.”
Gomez wasn’t the only member of the team who made an appearance in Costa Rica, he’s named four members of the U-17 side in his squad for Canada.
These two national teams crossed paths just a few months back in Costa Rica, drawing 1-1 in the group round. A total of six players, three per side, competing in Canada also saw action in that U-17 encounter.
They are Daisy Cleverly, Isabella Coombes and Martine Puketapu for New Zealand and Laurie Cristaldo, Fanny Godoy and Jessica Martinez for Paraguay, with Natasha Martinez a substitute.
Cleverly was the author of New Zealand’s goal then and she will no doubt be looking not only to add to that, but improve on it, this time around.
For New Zealand they’ll be looking to leader Katie Bowen to guide them through a match the want to take points from.
Bowen is one of only four players present in Canada to have taken part in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, she’s also one of the most internationally experienced players involved, having been to two FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cups in 2008 and 2010, as well as Germany 2011.
The Junior Football Ferns take on Paraguay in their opening match of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada today at midday. The match is being screened live on Sky Sport 3 in New Zealand.
New Zealand
1. Lily ALFELD (GK), 2. Catherine BOTT, 3. Megan LEE, 4. Evie MILLYNN, 5. Emily JENSEN, 6. Meikayla MOORE, 7. Hannah CARLSEN, 8. Daisy CLEVERLEY, 9. Martine PUKETAPU, 10. Emma ROLSTON, 11. Briar PALMER, 12. Steph SKILTON, 13. Isabella COOMBES, 14. Katie BOWEN, 15. Megan ROBERTSON, 16. Ashleigh WARD, 17. Jasmine PEREIRA, 18. Belinda VAN NOORDEN, 19. Tayla O’BRIEN, 20. Corinna BROWN (GK), 21. Ronisa LIPI (GK)
Coach: Aaron MCFARLAND (NZL)
Paraguay
1. Cristina RECALDE (GK), 2. Jennifer MORA, 3. Laurie CRISTALDO, 4. Rosalia GODOY, 5. Tania RISO, 6. Soledad GARAY, 7. Karen HERMOSILLA, 8. Fanny GODOY, 9. Mirta PICO, 10. Tania ESPINOLA, 11. Jessica MARTINEZ, 12. Alicia BOBADILLA (GK), 13. Belen BENITEZ, 14. Fabiola AYALA, 15. Veronica KURTZ, 16. Sady SALINAS, 17. Silvana ROMERO, 18. Maribel PORTILLO, 19. Leda PORTILLO, 20. Fabiola DELVALLE, 21. Natasha MARTINEZ (GK)

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