Soccer: Drama may hold silver lining

There might be another silver lining for some members of the Football Ferns after yesterday's dramatic 2-2 draw with Mexico in their final outing at the Fifa Women's World Cup in Germany.

An immensely proud John Herdman, wallowing in the afterglow as his charges picked up their first of a possible 27 points in three forays on to the biggest stage, later revealed that strikers Amber Hearn and Sarah Gregorious have caught the eye of German Bundesliga clubs and could join their captain, Rebecca Smith, who plays at Vfl Wolfsburg, in playing football professionally in that country.

"That is great for them," said Herdman. "As well, a player like Hannah Wilkinson will not have done herself any harm with what she has shown here."

It was Wilkinson, on as 55th-minute substitute for Rosie White, who grabbed the stunning equaliser with the last kick of the game in Sinsheim to break Mexican hearts as they prepared to celebrate their first win at a Women's World Cup.

The drama-filled finale also helped erase Hardman's most bitter footballing memory.

The 2-2 draw with the higher-ranked Mexicans was fully deserved.

After giving up a goal in just 65 seconds after turning over midfield ball and watching as Stephany Mayor raced away slipping the ball between goalkeeper Jenny Bindon's legs, the New Zealanders were playing catch-up.

They fell further behind inside 30 minutes when a Mexican goalkick was sent long, the defence failed to clear and mercurial striker Maribel Dominguez added the telling blow.

For the remaining hour the New Zealand players gave as good as they got.

They won seven corners to two, had 53 per cent of possession and led the shot count 19-10 but, tellingly, had only four on target, giving 16-year-old Mexican goalkeeper Cecilia Santiago an armchair ride until that storming finish.

In the dying seconds of regulation time. New Zealand claimed their seventh corner. Kirsty Yallop floated the ball in. Smith rose and nodded down and away from Santiago.

In a drama-filled supposed two minutes of stoppage time, Wilkinson went down in a clash of heads and left the field but soon returned and raced towards the Mexican penalty area where, as four minutes ticked by, she gathered a long ball from Ali Riley, took a touch and unleashed that precious point-scoring strike.

Of the first eight teams to complete pool play, New Zealand scored more goals (4) than the other three departees. They had a better goals for/against record (4-6) than the rest - Mexico (3-7), Nigeria (1-2) and Canada (1-7) and more than doubled their previous goals scored at the World Cup. In 1991 they finished 1-11. Four years ago, also in China, they left without scoring and a 0-9 record.

"Certainly, we wanted to get three points and be the first New Zealand team to win," said Herdman. "That wasn't to be, but to come back like we did and get that point, for us it felt like winning the World Cup.

"When the odds were against us, the minnows stepped up. We knew we could get something from it. On 90 minutes your captain heads home and then something like that [Wilkinson's strike]. It would have been cruel to go home without something."

Like, his most bitter memory when at the Under-20 World Cup in Chile in 2008 England scored with the last kick of the game to snatch a 1-1 draw and send New Zealand home when just seconds from becoming the first New Zealand team to get out of their group.

Herdman and eight of his players from that Young Ferns team got their payback in Sinsheim yesterday.