All Whites draw with Iraq

BY FRED WOODCOCK IN JOHANNESBURG

The All Whites’ bench and players went up as one, arms in the air and hugs all around.

Rarely before had a 0-0 draw been greeted with such jubilation but for New Zealand football, this was a victory of sorts.

The draw with Iraq at Ellis Park in Johannesburg this morning created a slice of history for the All Whites, who won their first ever point in their ninth match at a Confederations Cup. It was also their first point at a senior men’s Fifa tournament.

There were no goals, and the match won’t go down as one the greats, but the 23 players in black shirts couldn’t have cared less – they gained some of the credibility they were after from the very outset.

There were some nervous moments toward the end, however, as two magnificent saves from Glen Moss and a goal-line clearance from Tony Lochhead saved them from heart-break. And it would have been a cruel blow, as the All Whites dominated the match in possession and chances created.

On another night they could’ve won 3-0, and the finishing left much to be desired, but they are small gripes in the scheme of things and certainly compared to the previous two performances here in South Africa, ones that can be overlooked.

In contrast to the previous match, there were plenty of worthy individual performances.

Leo Bertos, who was quiet against South Africa, led the charge and was prepared to use his considerable pace to take on defenders and create chances, which he did all night.

Jeremy Brockie, too, had a good game on the other flank and rebounded in style having been substituted after just 27 minutes of the Spanish match and dropped for South Africa.

Coach Ricki Herbert resisted any temptation to make wholesale changes to the team that performed so poorly against South Africa, opting for just the three.

David Mulligan was dropped in favour of Aaron Scott at right back, Brockie regained his spot in the midfield from Jeremy Christie, and Ben Sigmund replaced Andy Boyens at centre back.

Herbert had a late change of heart and decided to play in-form goalkeeper Glen Moss for the third straight game despite earlier indicating Mark Paston would play against Iraq.

Sigmund, who certainly didn’t look as though he hadn’t played a game since January, was his usual uncompromising self and true to his pre-match words till he couldn’t last any longer and was replaced in the 71st minute.

He made several vigorous challenges early in the match and let the Iraqis know he was on the pitch.

It was the sort of physical intensity the All Whites had been lacking in the first two matches.

In fact, the overall transformation from the loss to South Africa was quite remarkable.

Sure, Iraq, ranked only five places above New Zealand at 77 in the world, were nowhere near the side that pushed Spain just a few days ago and they shirked the physical exchanges, but this was the sort of fully-committed All Whites side that we had expected from match day one.

It took only one minute for New Zealand to have their best passage of play in the tournament and they continued to dominate for the opening 45 minutes, winning the possession stakes convincingly, with nine shots on goal to Iraq’s three and five corners to one.

Iraq skipper Younis Mahmoud had the first chance of the match in the 11th minute but Moss was up to the challenge.

From there on in, it was all New Zealand. Chris Killen was much more prominent up front and on another night could have had a first-half hat-trick.

His best chance came in the 15th minute but he pushed a shot from the penalty spot wide after a lovely cross from Ivan Vicelich.

Other chances went to Sigmund, from a corner, while Smeltz was also in the thick of the action. His best chance came in the 30th minute but the Gold Coast striker saw his glancing header go just wide of the posts.

Chances in the second half were scarce till the late flurry.

Aside from Sigmund, Bertos and Brockie, Simon Elliott was again dominant in the middle, Lochhead had a much better game, and Smeltz was lively up front.

Iraq: 0

All Whites: 0

Halftime: 0-0

Crowd: 23,295

All Whites: Glen Moss, Aaron Scott (David Mulligan 85), Ben Sigmund (Andy Boyens 71), Ivan Vicelich, Tony Lochhead, Jeremy Brockie (Jeremy Christie 68), Simon Elliott, Tim Brown, Leo Bertos, Shane Smeltz, Chris Killen.

 

 

- © Fairfax NZ News