After comprehensive opening victories on Match Day 1 the test for who might edge ahead in the Group A standings comes today when New Caledonia and New Zealand meet in the opening Match Day 3 encounter.
New Caledonia and New Zealand will vie for top spot in Group A.
Tonga and Samoa will then face-off at 5pm with both sides hoping to earn their first points here in the Cook Islands.
New Zealand’s record in this competition makes them the favourite going into this match, especially given New Zealand won their only previous encounter at this level 13-1 in 2012.
In that edition of the OFC U-17 Women’s Championship New Caledonia were the only side to score against the Kiwis but coach Matthieu Delcroix won’t be focusing on that aspect.
“If we score, but then concede nine or ten goals for me that’s not good so it’s not the most important thing for me,” Delcroix says.
“Obviously if we can score, great, but what we want to do is have everything in place in terms of our game, to do what we want to do and try and get a good result.”
An 11-goal buffer from their first encounter shows New Zealand is not shy in front of the goal, but Turnbull says there are still some adjustments and learnings for the players to take on board.
“We are comfortable to expect some rustiness in the first two games,” he says.
“But we need more of the same against New Caledonia – moving the ball fast and making sure we don’t overplay.
“From there the opportunities will present themselves against a team who played well in their first match.”
For Samoa and Tonga it was a disappointing start for two sides who have put a lot of time and effort into their preparations for this competition.
However neither side will be putting their heads down and admitting defeat just yet.
An early strike from New Zealand highlighted the need for Samoa to settle into their game quicker, with their performance early in the second half more in line with what coach Nadia Malifa wants to see for the full 90 minutes.
The task will be a lot harder for her side come game two given the large number of injuries picked up by members of her squad.
“We have a couple of players who are injured from the New Zealand game, so that will be hard,” Malifa says.
“But we will get over the New Zealand loss and be better prepared for Tonga, I am sure.”
Reflecting on his side’s opening defeat, Christian Koaneti says there were some periods where his team performed well but there is a bit to work on ahead of their clash with Samoa.
“There’s so much to do before the next game,” he says.
“We had some good moments but we didn’t have the finishing touch and in terms of our defence New Caledonia were able to break inside our defence so we’re going to have to work hard on that, said Koaneti