Sunday’s dramatic win by the New Zealand U-17 men’s team against Vanuatu has already started to play its part in helping develop more young players.
Attendees at the annual national camp held by the Ricki Herbert Football Academy watched the stream of the match to provide opportunities for coach-led analysis, and to help youngsters learn from the match.
Main photo: Players watch the age group international match with coach/facilitator Bradley Rea (left) and Ricki Herbert (right).
New Zealand won 1-0 with a penalty in added time, to go through to the semi-finals of the OFC U-17 Championship in Fiji.
The tournament provides automatic qualification for the two finalists to the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be staged in Peru in November.
The young players at the RHFA camp had an extra reason to cheer on the New Zealanders as one of the academy’s graduates, Dylan Gardiner, was playing at centre-back for the side.
About 180 players aged 9-14 attended the weekend RHFA camp in Hamilton.
Match highlights
READ MORE: Late penalty gets New Zealand into semi-finals at OFC U-17 Championship >>>>
READ MORE: Coach Martin Bullock: ‘I wasn’t panicking because I trust the players’ >>>>
READ MORE: Here’s all our coverage of the OFC U-17 Championship >>>>
More football stories
