NZ overwhelm Tonga 16-0 in Nations Cup
Football Ferns captain Abby Erceg celebrated her 100th game for New Zealand with a record 16-0 win over Tonga at the Oceania Nations Cup tournament in Papua New Guinea on Saturday.
Erceg is the first New Zealand, male or female, to bring up a century of A international appearances.
The 24-year-old made her international debut as a 16-year-old against China in 2006.
The Oceania Nations Cup is the qualifying event for next year's Women's World Cup in Canada, and the Football Ferns were in a no-nonsense mood in their opening match at Kalabond Oval.
Ahead 7-0 at halftime, the New Zealanders made a promising start in their campaign to win their third consecutive Oceania title.
Sarah Gregorius and Helen Collins picked up a hat-trick apiece, while Daisy Cleverley marked her New Zealand debut with a brace. Rosie White, Amber Hearn and Annalie Longo all scored twice, with Ria Percival and Betsy Hassett also finding the net.
Coach Tony Readings was pleased with the way his team stuck to their game plan over the full 90 minutes in temperatures around 37C.
"It was a really good result and we went into the game knowing it was a game we should be winning," he said.
"Today there were some things we wanted to work on and some of that was around our ability to score - around our crossing, shooting and finishing.
"For the majority of the game we did that well. It's encouraging for the team that a lot of the things we did come here to improve on, we did improve on."
New Zealand's next game is against Papua New Guinea on Monday, with their third group match scheduled for October 29 against the Cook Islands.
