She previously captained the New Zealand team at the Under-17 Fifa World Cup in 2016 and played Under-20 World Cup in France two years later.
Her 2016 coach Coach Gareth Turnbull said Foster was the perfect fit for the job.
“There is a real presence around Michaela, extremely well respected from the playing group and the staff,” he said at the time.
“She has that real aura and mana about her and she is able to get the most out of the players, which is something that’s rare. It’s difficult to showcase those leadership skills at this age but out of anyone in the group she stood out the most.”
While the Phoenix lost last night’s match against Western United, Foster managed to assist in the one goal the team did score when Marisa Van der Meer looped in a header from Foster’s corner to become the first Phoenix player to score in Wellington.
While her father could not be in Wellington to watch this weekend’s games, he is supporting from afar in London, watching hours after the All Blacks’ last Test of the year at Twickenham against England.
Her dad said he was “really proud” of his sport star daughter.
“She’s chasing her dreams, she’s shown a lot of ambition to make it in soccer and this is just another step for her,” he said.
“She’s really cut this path by herself, she’s done really well and my job as a dad is just to be like every other kids dad and support her and love her on the journey.”
