All Whites, giant-killers in the making

BY TONY SMITH

OPINION: The Serbian fans flung the smoke flares but the All Whites produced the fireworks as New Zealand celebrated the best result in their football history today.

Yes, the All Whites have had more important wins - most notably the World Cup playoff victories over China in Singapore in 1982 and Bahrain in Wellington last November.

We must not forget this morning's match in Klagenfurt was only a friendly with nothing riding on it other than pre-World Cup bragging rights.

But the All Whites have every right to skite - they have toppled the 15th best team in the world, a Serbian side 63
places above them on the Fifa rankings rung. The 78th-ranked Kiwis have conquered a side stacked with stars from some of the biggest clubs in Europe - Manchester United, Ajax Amsterdam, Borussia Dortmund and Valencia.

I can't instantly recall, at this early hour, a greater upset in New Zealand sporting history nor a time where a Kiwi side has punched so far above its weight.  Even the 2008 Rugby League Cup win over Australia wasn't such a surprise because New Zealand's star had been rising for a while in the NRL.

But rugby league is a minor sport on the global stage. Football is the world game - and this match marks a soccer sea-change in New Zealand.

This was no dogged backs-against-the-wall, fingernails-chewn-to-the-quick performance, though no-one would have blamed Ricki Herbert for imploring the referee to call time early when play was delayed at the 85-minute mark by Serbian pitch intruders.

Nor was the All Whites' victory a fluke. Yes Serbia missed a couple of sitters - none more so than Neven Subotic's back-post free header in the first half.

But the All Whites could have scored straight after Shane Smeltz's fantastic finish in the 22nd minute and young substitute Jeremy Brockie should have pulled the trigger late in the second spell.

The All Whites displayed a steely nerve and a new-found composure. Last year they led world champions Italy three times in a friendly in South Africa before folding to lose 4-3.

Just five days ago a last-second lapse of concentration cost them a deserved draw against the Socceroos in Melbourne.

Skipper Ryan Nelsen was livid then and so determined not to let his teammates drop their bundle again.

The Kiwi captain looked the best English premier league centre-back on show - no mean feat considering Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic wore the Serbia skipper's armband. Nelsen had Serbia skyscraper striker Nikola Zigic in his pocketing, even dominating the 2.02m targetman in the aerial challenges.

Keeper Mark Paston, out so long for a broken leg, made several smart saves - the best a glance off Nelsen's outstretched leg to avoid an own goal. He looks to be carrying his brilliance against Bahrain through to the World Cup campaign.

Big ups too to the two young men alongside Nelsen. Winston Reid, 21, brings a physicality, athleticism and deft delivery of the ball and his brave challenge on Zigic helped Paston save a certain second-half equaliser.

Tommy Smith, the 20-year-old Ipswich Town defender, also looks to have ice in his veins and hardly put a foot wrong. He and Reid both looked like they have been playing at this level for years. They will put real heat on two heroes of the Bahrain series, Ben Sigmund and Ivan Vicelich, for berths in the three-man defence in the World Cup opener against Slovakia on June 15.

Likewise too young Chris Wood. His fellow strikers Shane Smeltz and Rory Fallon will garner most of the plaudits - and rightly so.  But 18-year-old Wood was unfazed by going up against Vidic.  He's quick, strong and has a great touch and almost created a second goal for Fallon straight after Smeltz's sensational strike shocked the Serbians. Wood also worked his socks off, tracking back down the right flank, as did Fallon and Smeltz, who were also only too willing to relieve the pressure on the defensively diffident Leo Bertos.

Chris Killen, so slick against the Socceroos and Bahrain, may just have picked the wrong time to get married. His experience should see him return to the starting lineup with Wood, at this stage, still set to get gametime off the bench in South Africa.

But young Wood will lead the All Whites line for a long time ahead.

Smeltz must also take great heart from his first goal for the All Whites since his brace against Jordan last September.

The A-League goals machine was strangely subdued against Mexico and the Socceroos. But his was a world-class finish this morning. The arch predator had the presence of mind to turn his marker and open up his angle rather than flash a first-time shot. That is the trait of a deadly marksman.

Fallon will have to watch that stray, swinging elbow at the World Cup finals. But the big man has added hugely to the All Whites' attack in just his sixth match for his country.

The Plymouth rock is so strong on the ball and imperious in the air. He beat Vidic - no mean feat, that - to Reid's long ball for the flick-on to Smeltz for the Kiwis' killer goal.

As much as we want to see the All Whites play on the deck, they should not hesitate to maximise their natural height advantage. Fallon, Killen, Wood, Nelsen, Reid and Smith give New Zealand real presence in the air at set pieces. If the likes of Bertos and Simon Elliott can get their delivery right, they can prove a real handful to Slovakia, Paraguay and even the Italians.

- © Fairfax NZ News