Junior All Whites forward Noah Billingsley jubilant after scoring against Myanmar during their FIFA U-20 World Cup Group A match. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
Junior All Whites forward Noah Billingsley jubilant after scoring against Myanmar during their FIFA U-20 World Cup Group A match. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
Most Fridays, Noah Billingsley spends the day at Onslow College before coaching kids at the Ole Football Academy just north of Wellington.
Those junior sessions were cancelled last night - not just because Billingsley wasn't available - but because most of the kids (and their parents) wanted to be atWellington Stadium to watch him play for New Zealand instead.
At 17, Billingsley is the youngest member of this New Zealand squad. An impressive appearance off the bench in the opening match against Ukraine earned him a starting spot against the USA, which he kept for the must-win match against Myanmar.
Coach Darren Bazeley decided the tall Wellingtonian was the man to lead the line in his home-town. He didn't disappoint.
After finding themselves a goal down, the Junior All Whites finally worked out that keeping the ball on the deck was a far better idea than banging it long towards Billingsley and Alex Rufer.
After forty frustrating minutes, left-back Deklan Wynne broke down the left and delivered a pinpoint cross along the carpet for Billingsley to tap home. After 220 minutes in this tournament, New Zealand had finally opened their account and the fresh-faced youngster had a World Cup goal.
Two minutes after half-time, Billingsley was involved again. After sharp build-up play from Rufer and Clayton Lewis, he slid a pass to Monty Patterson who gave New Zealand the lead from close range.
He then provided the pass for a freshly-arrived Joel Stevens to score a third goal before leaving to a huge home-town ovation with New Zealand out of sight at 4-1.
Afterwards, you couldn't wipe the smile off the young man's face, and rightly so. He'd been asked to do a job by his coach and delivered big time.
The Junior All Whites now wait for final confirmation of their place in the round of 16. Only a series of extremely unlikely results would see them miss out; in fact, if Senegal can't beat Qatar by four clear goals in the 1pm game in Hamilton, passage will be secure.
When the tournament ends, it'll be back to Onslow College and Ole Academy for Noah Billingsley, but perhaps not for long.
Remember the name. You'll be hearing a lot more of it.
