The official draw for the event was made on Tuesday (NZ time) with New Zealand lining up in Group A against Jordan, Spain and Mexico in the tournament which will be played from 30 September – 21 October.
Turnbull, who has been the head coach of the Women’s U-17 side since March last year, said his girls would be ready for the challenge to make a name for themselves on the world stage.
“We are really excited about the group that we have,” said Turnbull from Jordan. “Hopefully we can surprise a few countries here because everyone wanted to play us in the draw so coming in as underdogs will play nicely for us.”
Turnbull believed that Group A would probably be the most open of the competition. The Kiwis will play the opening game of the tournament against what they expect will be a tough Mexico side and their final game against the tournament hosts.
“To play the host nation in front of their home fans who will be a very supportive crowd that will be really exciting. It is not a bad draw to have and now it is time to do the business.”
Turnbull has been impressed by Jordan as a country. He said the people are very friendly, it has a Middle Eastern feel and it is also well organised.
“It is a fantastic little place. Every FIFA event is well organised and planned and we are expecting an amazing event in four months’ time.”
The New Zealand team are still in a phase of approaching the event as individuals with the girls around the country while some are with the Ferns, and others are with the U-20s.
It won’t be until the Football Ferns head off to the Olympics in late July that they start to centralise their programme. Turnbull is confident they have a comprehensive plan in place and his girls are tracking well for the event.
The hardest thing has been keeping the girls focused on the longer term, that the FIFA U-17 World Cup is a stepping stone in their footballing careers.
“We have been painting the picture that the World Cup is such a small moment in their footballing history that it is not all about the U-17 World Cup,” he said.
“But the closer we get to it, staff included, everyone is starting to think about it a little bit more. We have recently trimmed the group to 25 players and it is one step closer for those girls to make the World Cup. It is a wonderful event and not every player gets to be part of it so everyone knows they are privileged to be in this position.”
Group A: Jordan, Spain, Mexico, New Zealand
Group B: Venezuela, Germany, Cameroon, Canada
Group C: Nigeria, Brazil, England, Korea DPR
Group D: USA, Paraguay, Ghana, Japan
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football

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