Not long after helping the Football Ferns book their ticket to the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup at the OFC Women's Nations Cup, Whangarei's Hannah Wilkinson is focusing on the newest Ferns campaign at the Peace Queen Cup in Seoul, South Korea this week.
The Ferns dominated their South Pacific competition
at the OFC Women's Nations Cup, and secured a spot in next year's World Cup in Germany, with an emphatic 11-0 win over Papua New Guinea in the final of the Auckland-based tournament.
Wilkinson contributed a quick-fire double in the first half of the final to help her side to the huge winning margin, which topped off a superb week of matches. The 18-year-old striker also scored an outstanding four goals during the Ferns 14-0 thrashing of Vanuatu, along with a goal in the Ferns 8-0 win over the Solomon Islands.
After being plucked from Kamo High's First XI at the 2009 National Secondary Schools Competition for the NZ Under-20s squad, Wilkinson was promoted into the Football Ferns soon after making her international debut at the OFC Under-20 Women's Championships earlier this year. Her recent success has made her father and Kamo High School First X1 coach Simon Wilkinson a very proud man. "It's such an exciting time for her. We were watching the replay of last week's final, and you can see she is still raw and she needs a bit more experience ... most of the girls in the squad are in the mid-20s, so she has loads of time," he said.
It's the third time New Zealand has qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup. The Ferns now join hosts Germany, England, Sweden, France, Norway, Australia, Japan and Korea DPR in the 16-nation finals next June.
