New Zealand

Roll of Honour

Ultimate NZ Soccer
NZ Soccer Scoreboard
Weekly Soccer Observer

:: New Zealand football news ::

Click here for all news stories on football in New Zealand.

New Zealand recorded comfortably their best ever World Cup performance and did the Oceania federation proud in remaining unbeaten throughout the finals having never previously gained a point there. They showed great team spirit and no little ability but unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough to gain their maiden win at the event and they fell just short of a place in the second round. Scoring just one more goal in any of their three group games would have taken them through.

The All Whites began their campaign against Slovakia in their easiest fixture on paper but nonetheless most commentators expected them to be well beaten. After a goalless first 45 minutes they fell behind early in the second period to a well-placed Robert Vittek header. It looked to be the winning goal until deep into injury time when Kiwi centre-back Winston Reid went forward to expertly head a Smeltz cross past Mucha and into the Slovak net with virtually the last touch of the game.

The draw with Slovakia was heralded as New Zealand’s best ever result but it was eclipsed five days later when they held the world champions Italy to another 1-1 draw in Nelspruit. This time, both goals came in the first half, with the impressive Reid this time turning provider by flicking on a free kick to Smeltz to score from close range, admittedly from an offside position, but the goal stood and the Kiwis had a shock lead after only seven minutes. Naturally they spent most of the rest of the game under the cosh and their lead was cancelled out after 29 minutes when Tommy Smith conceded a penalty, which Iaquinta converted.

The Kiwis kept their cool and defended resolutely as a unit, restricting the Italians to a few half chances and generally playing well above themselves. Indeed, they managed to muster a couple of chances to win the game themselves in the second half when first Vicelich had a decent effort from long range fly just wide and later substitute Chris Wood broke through on the left and saw his angled shot pass just outside the far post. The point gave New Zealand a real chance of qualifying for the second round by beating Paraguay in their final game, or even with a score draw if the Italians also drew their final game with Slovakia and scored fewer goals.

In the event, the All Whites did manage a draw against group winners Paraguay, but 0-0 was not enough in what proved to be one of the least exciting games of the tournament. However, it did preserve their unbeaten record and round off their best ever World Cup performance. They finished third in Group F with three points and amazingly finished above outgoing world champions Italy, giving coach Ricki Herbert and his players many reasons to celebrate.

The New Zealand squad submitted to FIFA was as follows:

NUMBER – POSITION – NAME – AGE- CLUB

1 – GK – Mark PASTON – 33 – Wellington Phoenix
12 – GK – Glen MOSS – 27 – Melbourne Victory
23 – GK – James BANNATYNE – 34 – Team Wellington
2 – DF – Ben SIGMUND – 29 – Wellington Phoenix
3 – DF – Tony LOCHHEAD – 28 – Wellington Phoenix
4 – DF – Winston REID – 21 – Midtjylland
5 – DF – Ivan VICELICH – 33 – Auckland City
6 – DF – Ryan NELSEN – 32 – Blackburn Rovers
18 – DF – Andy BOYENS – 26 – New York Red Bulls
19 – DF – Tommy SMITH – 20 – Ipswich Town
7 – MF – Simon ELLIOTT – 35 – no club affiliation
8 – MF – Tim BROWN – 29 – Wellington Phoenix
11 – MF – Leo BERTOS – 28 – Wellington Phoenix
13 – MF – Andy BARRON – 29 – Team Wellington
15 – MF – Michael McGLINCHEY – 23 – Motherwell
16 – MF – Aaron CLAPHAM – 23 – Canterbury United
17 – MF – Dave MULLIGAN – 28 – no club affiliation
21 – MF – Jeremy CHRISTIE – 27 – Tampa Bay
9 – FW – Shane SMELTZ – 28 – Gold Coast United
10 – FW – Chris KILLEN – 28 – Middlesbrough
14 – FW – Rory FALLON – 28 – Plymouth Argyle
20 – FW – Chris WOOD – 18 – West Bromwich Albion
22 – FW – Jeremy BROCKIE – 22 – North Queensland Fury

World Cup outsiders New Zealand pulled off a shock result in their warm up match against Serbia in Klagenfurt, Austria, with a 1-0 win against their better fancied and much higher ranked opponents. Gold Coast United striker Shane Smeltz notched up his 16th international goal in 29 appearances in the 22nd minute of the game and the All Whites defence held firm thereafter to secure an unlikely win.

This was New Zealand’s second of three World Cup warm up matches, the first having been a last minute 2-1 defeat to Australia in Melbourne where Chris Killen had given the All Whites a first half lead. They finish their preparations against Slovenia on the 4th of June, eleven days before their World Cup campaign kicks off against Slovakia in Rustenburg.

Serbia have two more chances to find form ahead of their opening World Cup Group D match against Ghana. They face Poland on the 2nd of June and Cameroon on the 5th. Coach Radomir Antic will be doing everything in his power to avoid a repeat of this insipid performance.

Serbia 0-1 New Zealand (29/05/2010)

Starting Line-ups:

New Zealand:
Paston
Nelsen
Reid
Lochhead
Smith
Bertos
Christie
Elliott
Fallon
Smeltz
Woods

Substitutions:
61 Brockie for Woods

Serbia:
Stojkovic
Vidic
Rukavina
Subitic
Obradovic
Kuzmanovic
Milijas
Ninkovic
Tosic
Zigic
Pantelic

Substitutions:
21 Kolarov for Obradovic
46 Petrovic for Milijas
46 Kacar for Ninkovic
46 Djuricic for Stojkovic
59 Mrdja for Kuzmanovic
66 Lazovic for Pantelic

Goals:
Smeltz (22)