New Zealand came close to pulling off a memorable result in their second match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in India after coming from behind to lead Paraguay but were undone by a late flurry of goals from the South Americans, eventually falling 4-2 in a thrilling encounter this morning.
Coach Danny Hay was without the services of Max Mata due to suspension and, in the absence of his influential skipper, the captain's arm band went to Elijah Just. The sizeable void left by Mata was filled by Willem Ebbinge while Joshua Rogerson slotted into the back four in place of Ben Deeley in the only other change from the line-up that drew 1-1 with Turkey.
Having gone behind early on in that opening match against the Europeans, New Zealand would have been determined to start more strongly on their return to the Dr. DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai but those hopes were dashed in only the second minute. The Kiwis again fond themselves needing to come back from a goal down and it was a bizarre one to concede, Alan Rodriguez shaping up to whip a free kick into the box from wide on New Zealand's left but somehow managing to loop it all the way over a stranded Jacob Clark and into the far corner.
Just as they had on Friday, Hay's side responded well to the early set back though and took just over half an hour to completely turn the score around. They began to exert pressure from the eighth minute when Ebbinge had half of sight of goal from a lofted through ball but lost possession before he could shoot and a pair of Just corners then proved a handful for Paraguay.
As they pressed for the equaliser, New Zealand may well have gone further behind at the other end though, Clark showing good positioning and bravery in the eleventh minute to save a one-on-one effort from Leonard Sanchez at point-blank range.
The first real opportunities for New Zealand to score arrived shortly after, Just relishing the added responsibility of the captaincy to lead by example and fire a shot straight at goalkeeper Diego Huesca from a tight angle. In the follow up, the ball eventually broke to Kingsley Sinclair a few yards outside the area but he curled his ambitious effort well wide.