New Zealand’s Adam Watson will feature in two top English youth cups when he returns to his Stoke City club after the OFC U-17 Championship.
Watson (16) scored a hat-trick to help New Zealand reach the final of the tournament in Fiji with a 4-1 semi-final win against the host nation on Wednesday.
The win also gains New Zealand automatic qualification to November’s FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru.
After Saturday’s tournament final, Watson will rejoin Stoke City, where his father, Dave Watson, was the long-serving club physio.
Watson’s hat-trick against Fiji prompted media coverage in England with the Stoke Sentinel hailing his goalscoring efforts.
He’ll be back in time to play for Stoke in the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup against West Ham United in February.
Stoke beat Manchester United U-18s in the fourth round while Watson was in Fiji.
The youngster is also in the Stoke U-17 team that has reached the quarter-finals of the U-17 Premier League Cup, and will meet Nottingham Forest on February 21.
After being awarded the Player of the Match for his hat-trick performance, New Zealand’s Adam Watson said he thought the tournament had been a “great experience”.
The Stoke City youth player said: “I just gave my all, tried my best.”
He acknowledged the vocal New Zealand supporters in the crowd, saying they had been the team’s “12th man”.
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