Individual milestones bring unwanted attention to a player who is uneasy in the spotlight, despite her on-field exploits featuring heavily in some of the Football Ferns’ and New Zealand Football’s finest moments.
Amidst the loss to the Netherlands on Sunday (NZT), 30-year-old Hearn joined a small club of New Zealand Football centurions on Sunday (NZT) – only teammates Abby Erceg, Ria Percival and Katie Hoyle have achieved the feat in ‘A’ internationals – but it’s in the goal scoring charts where she towers above the rest.
She passed Wendy Sharpe’s long-standing New Zealand record of 34 goals with a stunning strike in a home win over China in 2012 and is now 11 goals clear with 45.
Yet remarkably, it took Hearn four years to get off the mark.
She made her debut in 2004 and soon after signed with Arsenal Ladies, with whom she won the English double and reached the semifinals of European club competition.
Following an injury-curtailed second full season in England with Doncaster Rovers Belles, Hearn, with just six New Zealand caps to her name opted to take an extended sabbatical from the sport.
She returned to the fold in 2008 with an eye on the Beijing Olympics and two games into her comeback, her maiden goal fired the Ferns to an historic win over Argentina. She’s never looked back.
“The core part of this team has been together for years and some of my best mates are in this team. I’ve grown up with a lot of them,” said Hearn who currently plays professionally in Germany.
“It’s like another family. You come into this environment and you feel like you’re at home. Being away in another country, and then coming back somewhere where you just feel comfortable.”
Described by one teammate as an ‘accidental leader’, Hearn’s value to the Football Ferns goes beyond her prolific scoring stats.
“Amber’s one of the players that’s at the heart and soul of this team both on and off the pitch,” said New Zealand coach Tony Readings.
“She’s always led by her actions, but in recent times she’s really developed as a leader off the pitch. She’s working with the emerging players coming through and they’re learning a lot from her.
“On the pitch her goal scoring record speaks for itself but there’s so much she does that people don’t give her credit for. Her work out of possession, her pressing, the way she puts her body on the line every game, and when she puts on the fern she definitely leaves nothing on the pitch.”
Amber HEARN
Age: 30
‘A’ Internationals: 100
‘A’ International debut: v Australia, 18 February 2004
50th international: v Northern Ireland, 28 February 2012
100th international: v Netherlands, 6 June 2015
‘A’ International goals: 45
First goal: v Argentina, 16 June 2008
35th goal: v China, 17 June 2012 (set a new NZ record)
45th goal: v Spain, 3 March 2015
FIFA Tournaments:
FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011, Canada 2015
Olympic Games Beijing 2008, London 2012
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football
For more on FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ visit www.fifa.com

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