Things couldn't be going better for Sandra Hernández individually at the Under-17 Women's World Cup. In Spain's second match, the player from Lanzarote took to the field as a starter and only took three minutes to open the scoring for the Spanish team. Sandra Hernández scored a great goal right at the start of the match, participating in every offensive play of the team and even sending a free kick off the crossbar in the second half. With her work and quality, Sandra Hernández has already earned a privileged place in the starting eleven of Spain Under-17.
After the defeat suffered last Sunday against Japan, Spain was obliged to win against New Zealand to keep their chances of reaching the quarter-finals intact. Jorge Vilda, coach of Spain Under-17, introduced some changes in the starting eleven, highlighting the presence of Sandra Hernández from Lanzarote in the team that took to the field from the start. Andrea Sánchez, the other Canary Islander in the national team, was also a starter in this match.
It only took Spain three minutes to open the scoring, with Sandra Hernández being in charge of scoring the first goal of the match and the World Cup for Spain. Sandra received a pass from her teammate Laura Domínguez inside the area, her control was a bit long, but she rectified with a great right-footed shot to beat goalkeeper Fulbrook. The player from Lanzarote celebrated the goal with great enthusiasm and was hugged by all her teammates.
The match was a monologue by Spain. There was only one team on the field, with the Spanish controlling the midfield and reaching the New Zealand goal with great ease. Sandra Hernández tried several times with long shots, one of which was stopped by goalkeeper Fulbrook. The second goal for Spain came in the 33rd minute, a great shot from Pilar Garrote from the edge of the area and the ball, after hitting one of the posts, went into the back of the net. The first half ended with the score at 0-2.
Spain's dominance continued in the second half of the match. Sandra Hernández would once again have a lot of presence in the Spanish attack, and a free kick from the player from Lanzarote from the left side would end up crashing into the top of the crossbar. The goal that sealed the match would come in the 67th minute. Ángeles Carrión "Leles" passed to Nahikari, and she sent the ball into the back of the net from inside the area.
With the match decided, Jorge Vilda made several changes, giving minutes to all the players who have been called up to play in the Costa Rica World Cup. In the final stretch of the match, the referee from Trinidad and Tobago invented a penalty by Pilar Garrote on Satchell, in an action in which the Spanish player cleared the ball cleanly. Coombes would not take advantage of the penalty and sent the ball against the post.
With this victory, Spain is in second place in Group C and depends on itself to obtain qualification for the quarter-finals. In the other match of the group, Japan thrashed Paraguay 10-0, demonstrating their superiority. Spain will play against Paraguay on Sunday night from 23:00 hours.
Match Details
New Zealand (0): Fulbrook, Gilchrist, Anton, Coombes, Clevery, Paketapu, Parris (Arquette 85), Steward-Hobbes (Gross 46), Satchel, Morton, Richards (Hepburn 70)
Spain (2): Elena del Toro, Nuria Garrote (Ángeles Carrión 65), Rocio Gálvez, Silvia Mérida, Bea Beltrán (Carmen Menayo 70), Patricia Guijarro, Pilar Garrote, Sandra Hernández, Laura Domínguez, Andrea Sánchez and Nahikari García (Laura Ortega 77)
Goals
0-1: minute 3, Sandra Hernández
0-2: minute 33, Pilar Garrote
0-3: minute 67, Nahikari García
Referee: Aissata Amegee (Trinidad and Tobago). Booked Anton for New Zealand and Nuria Garrote and Pilar Garrote for Spain. Poor performance.
Incidents: Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in Tibas. Second matchday of Group C of the Under-17 Women's World Cup.
