Spain scored two late goals to beat New Zealand 2-0 in their Fifa under-17 women's World Cup in Jordan.
Photo: 123RF
It is New Zealand's second straight loss.
New Zealand defended valiantly throughout the match, but Spain eventually found the breakthrough when Spain captain Laia Aleixandri scored a superb goal from 25 yards out in the 80th minute.
Substitute striker Claudia Pina doubled La Rojita's lead five minutes later.
As expected, Spain generated far more shots on target than New Zealand and had the majority of possession, but the Young Football Ferns defended tenaciously throughout the match.
New Zealand proved to be more of a challenge for Spain to break down than hosts Jordan were in the opening match.
They almost went ahead right before half-time when Jacqui Hand tried to loft in a shot to the far post from the corner of the penalty area, but her effort sailed just over Spain's crossbar.
In the second half, Spain continued to be dominant and left winger Candela Andujar proved dangerous for New Zealand on several occasions, most notably when she forced Leat into making a low save at her near post.
Spain nearly went in front from the resulting corner, but New Zealand's defense were able to make a clearance off the line.
Just when New Zealand looked to be on their way to grabbing a crucial point, Aleixandri struck a shot with power and precision from 25 yards out into the top right corner to finally give Spain the lead.
Pina, who came on for Navarro, then latched onto a defense-splitting pass from fellow substitute Nerea Eizaguirre before rounding Leat and scoring Spain's second of the match in the 85th minute.
The victory represents Spain's third against New Zealand in the competition's history, having won 3-1 in 2010 and 3-0 in 2014.
New Zealand lost 5-nil to mexico in their opening game.
Their final pool game is against Jordan on Friday.
-RNZ
