What have you achieved so far this term? Maybe you're proud of your stellar performance during corporate interviews. Maybe you're still managing to survive in Meir Kohn's finance class. These are praiseworthy achievements, but there are two Dartmouth students whose responses will stand out from most.
If you are men's soccer players Craig Henderson '09 and Daniel Keat '10, your answer to the question would be, "I helped my country qualify for the World Cup for the first time ever."
The two New Zealand natives played for the country's U-20 national team in the Oceania Qualifying tournament for a berth in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada this summer. Between Friday, Jan. 19 and Wednesday, Jan. 31, the New Zealand team played six games, winning five of them and drawing just one, thus earning the right to represent Oceania at the biggest stage for a youth soccer team.
"[After Australia moved to the Asian qualifying tournament] we were the favorites and were expected to win all of our games, which meant there was a fair amount of pressure on us to perform," Henderson said.
The Dartmouth striker missed most of the Ivy League season due to a torn ligament, but featured prominently for the All Whites after a successful recovery. Keat, Dartmouth's leading goal scorer in 2006 with six goals, captained the team on its way to success, netting three tallies in the process.
New Zealand recorded a 1-1 draw in its first game of the campaign against the Solomon Islands, and went on to win 7-1 versus Samoa, 2-0 vs. Tahiti, 3-2 vs. Fiji, 7-0 vs. Vanuatu and 1-0 vs. New Caledonia to take the top spot in the group with 16 points.
New Zealand's most decisive game came in the fifth round of the tournament against Fiji. At this point, the Kiwis were in second place with seven points, while Fiji was in the lead with nine, Fiji also boasted the tournament's top scorer, Roy Krishna. Fiji had all of the momentum with Krishna opening the score in the eighth minute before Chris James, playing for the reserves of English Premier League team Fulham, equalized through a penalty in the 43rd minute.
The second half proved more dynamic, and it was then that Keat proved his talent. The red-headed freshman, who will always be remembered on the Dartmouth campus for his brilliant bicycle kick against Brown last year, gave New Zealand the lead with a 56th minute header. Krishna equalized only 12 minutes later from the spot, but it was Keat again that brought joy to the Kiwis. Jeremy Brockie, who had assisted for Keat's first goal, delivered a nice ball into the area, where Keat nodded it home for the game winner 13 minutes from time. The victory against their direct opponents was a big swing of momentum for the All Whites, who held on to the top spot in the group until the end, leaving Fiji in second.
Keat scored on four occasions, his brace against Fiji of particular importance for the final qualification. The freshman's performance topped off a great first season for him at Dartmouth, in which he won freshman second team All-American and All-Ivy first team honors.
"We started the tournament out a bit slow. We had a tough 1-1 draw versus the Solomon Islands, which we probably should have won but from there I think we improved in every game," Henderson said. "I think the island teams are often underestimated. They are very skillful and athletic and many now have foreign coaches who have come on board. They are definitely improving."
From a personal standpoint, the tournament was important to Henderson, as it marked his return after a four-month stint off the field following his injury early in the Ivy League season.
"For me, this was a great experience. I was really happy just to be able to get out onto the pitch after having a pretty bad run of injuries. To be honest, I wasn't 100 percent fit going into the tournament, but managed to get through most of it and was reasonably happy with how I played," he said.
Henderson initially stumbled when asked to put the importance of the U-20 World Cup in perspective for Dartmouth students.
"The media keep saying that we probably don't know just how big the U-20 World Cup will be for us, and that's probably true," he said. "Apparently it's the fifth biggest sporting event in the world with 500,000 tickets already sold. There will be scouts from every club there."
New Zealand is one of 22 teams that have already secured a place in the World Cup. The All Whites will be joined by South Korea, North Korea, Japan and Jordan from Asia; Gambia, Congo, Zambia and Nigeria from Africa; the United States, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile from the Americas; Spain, Scotland, Czech Republic, Austria, Poland and Portugal from Europe; and host country Canada. Two more berths are still to be decided.
For Henderson and Keat, the tournament will be an opportunity to not only shine on the world stage, but also meet some of the future idols of generations of soccer fans. Emilio Manuel Degado of Portugal, Adriano of Brazil, Robert Prosinecki of Yugoslavia and Maradona, Javier Saviola and Lionel Messi of Argentina are among a star-studded list of players to have won player of the tournament status at previous FIFA youth World Cups.
The FIFA U-20 World Cup will take place in six cities around Canada between Saturday, June 30 and Sunday, July 22.
