New Zealand

[Leroy]

All Whites World Cup Squad Announced
Canterbury United’s Aaron Clapham and United States based Jeremy Christie are the notable selections in the 23 man All Whites squad named today to participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, beginning next month.


May 10, 2010

AUCKLAND - Canterbury United’s Aaron Clapham and United States based Jeremy Christie are the notable selections in the 23 man All Whites squad named today to participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, beginning next month.

Clapham came to national recognition after an outstanding season in the New Zealand Football Championship, where he was named Player of the Year.

Christie has been plying his trade in the United States with FC Tampa Bay Rowdies since being released from his contract with the Wellington Phoenix at the end of the 2009 A League season.

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert says both players deserve their selection in the World Cup squad.

“Aaron has come in to this group and looked very comfortable. He is the type of player that should be around the international scene for many years and he has a big future in the professional game.”

“Jeremy has always been on the radar and I have kept in close contact with his coach at Tampa Bay. He has gone off shore to challenge himself and that has been good for him”

“I know him well and the coaching staff has worked with Jeremy over many years and we believe he will offer a great deal to the squad.”

Former Wellington Phoenix utility David Mulligan has been selected in the squad despite not having played any club football last season and being released by the Phoenix in April.

“David has been a victim of circumstances at the Phoenix where other players have come in and played well, keeping him out of the team. He has never stopped working hard however and his attitude has been first class.”

The other player to force his way into the group is Newcastle Jets new signing Jeremy Brockie. Brockie has battled back from a broken leg, suffered during the last A League season but proved his fitness to the coaching staff over the last ten days.

Herbert admits that leaving players out of the squad was tough.

“I’m not one to usually have sleepless nights but this has been a very difficult job settling on the final pieces of the jigsaw.”

“This group of players has worked tremendously hard over the last ten days and they have all performed creditably but unfortunately we can only take a squad of 23 to South Africa.”

Blackburn Rovers central defender Ryan Nelsen will captain the side in the republic. Nelsen will be joined by six other European based professionals, Rory Fallon (Plymouth), Chris Killen (Middlesbrough), Michael McGlinchey (Motherwell), Winston Reid (FC Midtjylland), Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town) and Chris Wood (West Bromwich Albion).

17 members of the squad that played Bahrain in the two legged Asia/Oceania qualifiers last year have made the World Cup squad. The player who has not made the World Cup squad is Waitakere defender Aaron Scott.

New Zealand Football Chairman Frank Van Hattum, who was a member of the 1982 World Cup squad says he’s excited about this announcement.

“This is one of the finest group of players ever selected for a New Zealand team.”

“It is great to see so many of this team carving successful professional careers in Europe and with a large core of Wellington Phoenix professionals I believe we can go to South Africa with great hope.”

“This is the World Cup Finals and no game will be easy but Ricki has put together a skilful and committed team and with that little bit of luck that every team needs, this could be an exciting time for New Zealand football and New Zealand sport,” van Hattum said.

The squad reassembles in Auckland on May 19. They will travel to Melbourne on May 22 for a match against the Socceroos at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on May 24.

Following that match the squad will travel to Austria for a pre World Cup camp and matches against Serbia and Slovenia, before arriving in South Africa on June 6.

The 23 man All Whites squad for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa 2010 is:

James Bannatyne - Team Wellington
Andy Barron - Team Wellington
Leo Bertos - Wellington Phoenix
Andy Boyens - New York Red Bulls
Jeremy Brockie - Newcastle Jets
Tim Brown - Wellington Phoenix (vice captain)
Jeremy Christie - FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
Aaron Clapham - Canterbury United
Simon Elliott - unattached
Rory Fallon - Plymouth Argyle
Chris Killen - Middlesbrough
Tony Lochhead - Wellington Phoenix
Michael McGlinchey - Motherwell
Glen Moss - Melbourne Victory
David Mulligan - unattached
Ryan Nelsen - Blackburn Rovers (captain)
Mark Paston - Wellington Phoenix
Winston Reid - FC Midtjylland (Denmark)
Ben Sigmund - Wellington Phoenix
Shane Smeltz - Gold Coast United
Tommy Smith - Ipswich Town
Ivan Vicelich - Auckland City
Chris Wood - West Bromwich Albion

Team Management
Ricki Herbert - Head Coach
Brian Turner - Assistant Coach
Raul Blanco - Technical Advisor
Clint Gosling - Goalkeeping Coach
Roland Jeffrey - Physiotherapist
Wade Irvine – Massage Therapist
Celeste Geertsema – Team Doctor
Kenny McMillan - Sport Scientist
Chris Bradley - Technical Analysis
Chris Wardle - Kit Manager
Phil Warbrick - Manager
Gordon Irving - Media Liaison
Jamie Scott – Media Liaison

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Just thought I should have pride in my country and make a thread updating team news and fixtures for anyone that is interested.

 

[sMiLeYz]

Grats on beating Serbia btw!

 

[Guardian]

great movie from New Zealand! Sheep zombies, brilliant!

Wood and Nelsen are the only players I've heard of.

 

[Peerd]

Smeltz, Killen, Vicelich, Nelsen and Brown are the only players I know.

 

[Leroy]

May 29, 2010

KLAGENFURT, AUSTRIA – New Zealand stunned world number 15 and fellow FIFA World Cup finalist Serbia with a deserved 1-0 victory in Klagenfurt, Austria today.

Shane Smeltz struck the game’s only goal in the 22nd minute, cutting inside Antonia Rukavina before tucking a shot inside Vladimir Stojkovic’s near post after Rory Fallon had headed Winston Reid’s long pass into the path of his fellow striker.

Ranked 63 places above the All Whites, Serbia are the All Whites biggest scalp since FIFA started publishing its rankings 18 years ago, but with the FIFA World Cup the main focus, New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert was not allowing the team to get ahead of itself.

“It’s always been about performance for us, but a win like this over a top class nation like Serbia is a great bonus.

The victory, just New Zealand’s second on European soil, is a timely fillip given the All Whites face two European nations – Slovakia and World champions Italy – in Group F.

It also gave Herbert some food for thought selection wise, with players staking their claims for a World Cup starting spot.

“We made four changes and I thought Tommy Smith and Winston Reid, who only have three caps between them, did extremely well at the back alongside the captain. Jeremy Christie came into midfield and did well and Chris Wood in his first start against a big team was outstanding.

Two minutes after the opening goal, New Zealand almost found a second following some free-flowing build up but Stojkovic managed to beat away Fallon’s shot and Smeltz’s follow-up was somehow deflected to safety.

Serbia too had their chances, and Neven Subotic could have easily levelled the scores with a back post header in the 39th minute, while a pair of Mark Paston saves midway through the second half kept a deserved clean sheet intact.

Paston was called in to action again in the 73rd minute as to swat away a shot that deflected of Nelsen but substitute Jeremy Brockie almost put the game beyond doubt late in the game when he stole in between Vidic and Subotic and laced his shot into the side netting.

The match was marred by crowd disruption, with objects thrown onto the pitch and a handful of Serbian fans ghosting past pitch side security. Serbia’s captain Vidic did his part to calm the guilty section of the crowd down allowing the Austrian referee to restart play and see out the final few minutes.

Goal hero Smeltz, said the team had the belief that they could get a result against top teams and that the focus remained on their World Cup opener against Slovakia on June 15.

“It’s great to get a win over a nation like Serbia who some are saying are dark horses for the World Cup.

“We’ll take some confidence from it obviously, but we won’t be getting carried away.”

Upon their return to St Lambrecht, the All Whites were greeted by a civic reception at their hotel where traditional Austrian folk dancers and bands welcomed the team.

Tomorrow the All Whites travel to Bad Waltersdorf, where they will be based ahead of Friday’s friendly with Slovenia.

Many of the squad will take time out en route in Graz to watch England take on Japan.

New Zealand 1 (Shane Smeltz 22) Serbia 0
Klagenfurt, Austria
Halftime: 1-0

New Zealand: 1-Mark PASTON (GK), 3-Tony LOCHHEAD, 4-Winston REID, 6-Ryan NELSEN (captain), 7 Simon ELLIOTT, 9-Shane SMELTZ, 11-Leo BERTOS, 14-Rory FALLON, 19-Tommy SMITH, 20-Chris WOOD (22-Jeremy BROCKIE 61), 21-Jeremy CHRISTIE.
Substitutes not used: 2-Ben SIGMUND, 5-Ivan VICELICH, 12-Glen MOSS (RGK), 13-Andy BARRON, 15-Michael MCGLINCHEY, 16-Aaron CLAPHAM, 17-David MULLIGAN, 18-Andrew BOYENS, 23-James BANNATYNE (RGK), 8-Cole PEVERLEY

Cautions: Leo Bertos, Tony Lochhead

Serbia: 1-Vladimir STOJKOVIC (GK /23-Andjelko DJURICIC 46), 2-Antonio RUKAVINA, 5-Nemanja VIDIC (Captain), 20-Neven SUBOTIC, 16-Ivan OBRADOVIC (3-Aleksandar KOLAROV 21), 22-Zdravko KUZMANOVIC (21-Dragan MRDJA 59), 11-Nenad MILIJAS (4-Gojko KACAR 46), 7-Zoran TOSIC, 18-Milos NINKOVIC, 15-Nikola ZIGIC, 9-Marko PANTELIC (8-Danko LAZOVIC 66).
Substitutes not used: 10-Dejan STANKOVIC, 12-Zeljko BRKIC (RGK), 13-Aleksandar LUKOVIC, 14-Milan JOVANOVIC, 17-Milos KRASIC, 19-Radosav PETROVIC, 24-Bojan ISAILOVIC (RGK).

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Pretty big news in New Zealand. It is being labelled as our biggest result in history. The news covered the story three times within the hour they broadcast for.

 

[Lemmi]

Congrats..

New Zealand Consulate, Murray Hewitt speaking.

 

[Leroy]

Go fuck yourself, Bret.

 

[Lemmi]

i didnt say central park, new york. a said aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa central park in newark, new jersey.

best of luck to the all whites, from one sheep shagging nation to another!! in 10 months i will most likely be in NZ

 

[Leroy]

Nice man, where are you going?

 

[Lemmi]

probably all over, hitting SE asia (the bits i havent done like phillipines, vietnam etc) then working and travelling oz and then NZ with a bit of fiji to finish it all off. 1 exam left though!!

 

[-zlatan-]

we bet serbia 1-0 wich is a huge improvment from new zealand for the last 6/7/8/9/10 etc years Lol

 

[Leroy]

Slovenia Beats All Whites 3-1

If the All Whites needed a reminder of what lies ahead, this was it.

They were not outclassed in this morning's 3-1 World Cup warm-up loss to Slovenia in Maribor - at times they gave as good as they got - but the world's 25th-ranked team gave a glimpse of just how clinical the top teams can be.

New Zealand defended well, for the most part, but two wonderfully struck Milivoje Novakovic free kicks and a glaring goalkeeping error from Mark Paston killed the game off result-wise by halftime.

Admittedly, the second free kick should not have been awarded in the first instance, but New Zealand will have to be disciplined around the penalty box in South Africa.

Still, there was much to like about their performance, against a team placed 53 spots above them in the world rankings, again suggesting they will be competitive at the very least when their World Cup campaign kicks off against Slovakia on June 15.

They created a number of chances, mainly through the obvious strength in the air and from set pieces with Rory Fallon, Shane Smeltz and Chris Wood all looking likely at various stages in the match, though some of the finishing was found wanting.

It is one-dimensional but effective, and Fallon, in particular, has proven a handful for top quality defenders during the past two weeks.

Defensively again New Zealand looked reasonably sound, aside from goalkeeper Mark Paston who had an off night with the gloves, possibly struggling with the much criticised Jabulani World Cup ball.

The third goal, to Andraz Kirm just before halftime, came after Paston fumbled a seemingly innocuous cross directly into the Kirm's path.

The All Whites were slow starters, rarely having a sight of the ball in the opening 10 minutes as Slovenia dominated possession and looked dangerous with their sharpness and ball movement through midfield.

They opened the scoring in the 7th minute but there was little New Zealand could have done about the goal, a beautifully struck free kick from Novakovic from the edge of the area after the referee ruled a soft foul on All Whites skipper Ryan Nelsen.

Paston was left stranded as the Cologne striker got the ball over the wall and curving away from the big Wellington Phoenix stopper.

To the All Whites' credit, they responded strongly and enjoyed a good period in Slovenia's half as Wood first scuffed a shot after a Simon Elliott back-flick then got his head on a delightful Leo Bertos cross but could only steer it over the crossbar.

The door-knocking paid off in the 20th minute when Fallon, again impressive and a constant attacking threat, nailed a left-foot volley.

It was classic New Zealand, playing to their strength with a long ball into the box by Jeremy Christie, Wood rising at the back post and knocking down a header into Fallon's path.

But 10 minutes later Slovenia hit the lead again in controversial circumstances. Novakovic won a dubious free kick despite there being no contact in the challenge by defender Winston Reid and, from the same spot as he scored the first goal, bent the shot around the wall to beat Paston low to his left.

Wood was in the thick of the action, putting himself about up front and creating a number of chances but his finishing left much to be desired.

The best of his four first half chances came in the 39th minute, latching on to a Ryan Nelsen flick on before seeing his back post volley superbly parried onto the crossbar by the Slovenian goalkeeper.

Slovenia made it 3-1 just before halftime after a howler from Paston, who had been struggling to hold onto the ball throughout the half. This time he fumbled a long range shot straight into the path of midfielder Andraz Kirm, who made no mistake with a simple tap in.

Jeremy Brockie replaced Wood after the break, surprisingly the only substitution for New Zealand despite coach Ricki Herbert's pre-match talk of resting key players in the second half.

Both teams created chances in the second half, New Zealand looking most likely from set pieces - Tommy Smith and Reid put headers wide, while Slovenia, with their delightful play through the middle of the park, stretched the All Whites.

Slovenia and Slovakia are evenly matched both on the pitch and in the rankings, and though Slovenia were a more polished outfit than New Zealand, there was enough to suggest an upset on June 15 is certainly not out of the question.

Slovenia 3 (Milivoje Novakovic 7, 30; Andraz Kirm 44)

All Whites 1 (Rory Fallon 20)

Halftime: 3-1

All Whites (3-4-3): Mark Paston, Winston Reid, Ryan Nelsen, Tommy Smith, Leo Bertos, Simon Elliott, Jeremy Christie, Tony Lochhead, Chris Wood (Jeremy Brockie 46), Rory Fallon, Shane Smeltz.

 

[Leroy]

World Cup 2010: New Zealand dream of outperforming Australia
The draw against Slovakia have had the All Whites hoping for an All Black-style second-round exit

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 June 2010 20.35 BST


New Zealanders have a reputation for going into World Cups a little too confident. Arrogant, even.

But on the highveld over the next few weeks, the knockout-round exit that has become the hallmark of the All Blacks would be considered a remarkable success for the All Whites – perhaps even the nation's greatest sporting triumph.

Of course, we all know that New Zealand are unlikely to appear in the second round of their World Cup. Mildly surprised bookies the world over have slightly shortened the odds after the remarkable draw against Slovakia in the opening match yesterday. But Italy are cracking their knuckles ahead of the next pool game, so one nicked goal might be as good as it gets.

For New Zealand football fans, starved of recognition, a draw is a fine haul. To say that the All Whites slipped under their World Cup opponents' radar is something of an understatement. In television interviews a few weeks before the tournament, Paraguayan players struggled to recall the lesser fancied of their Group F opponents - Italy and Slovakia they could name, but they scratched their heads failing to cite the name of the land in the South Pacific.

But Winston Reid's injury-time equaliser against Slovakia has put the team firmly on the map. Opponents will now know they can play (albeit largely up route one and generally with a spot of good fortune at the back) and the wavering fans at home now realise there could be something to cheer about.

In terms of geopolitical bragging rights, Reid's headed goal has raised the prospect that our heroes could return home with more points than Australia. Well, one more point. If there's one thing guaranteed to attract the attention of New Zealand sports fans, it's a pants-down thrashing of Australia. Like the English, a good Kiwi sports fan will chortle along to a spot of Convict-bashing in whatever form it's offered. Unlike you lot, we could even cheer Germany to their four goals.

With its happy mix of Australian agony and Kiwi joy, sports fans here are taking the tournament to heart. At a pub in Palmerston North – once a bastion of the oval ball where blokes would contemplate the dark deeds of men such as Mark "Cowboy" Shaw in stoic silence – tearful All Whites fans gushed about their new heroes. "It's unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable," said Shane Kearns, of yesterday's draw. "I never stopped believing, never. There's nothing like football."

Back in Auckland, New Zealand Herald sports columnist Chris Rattue was equally effusive in his praise. "I have seen many great New Zealand sporting moments over the years but nothing to match this," he said.

Amid such good cheer, football in New Zealand senses that this could be its time to bloom. The solitary foray on to the big stage before now came back in 1982 when rugby was on a low after a Springbok tour in 1981 led to rioting in the streets. Football had an open-net chance to take what its devout fans - who have the air of puritans in an infidel land - claim as its rightful place.

In Spain, the All Whites shipped five goals to Scotland, three to the USSR and – with some relief – just four to Brazil. The two goals they bagged against Scotland (take a bow Steve Sumner and Steve Woodin) were deemed worthy of a commemorative biscuit tin. But the boat was missed. Domestically football remained a game of little fiefdoms and never pushed home a concerted claim to Kiwi hearts. When faced with the biscuit tin, most Kiwis today would absent-mindedly look inside for a cookie.

Today it could be different. Football has an advantage – the nascent golden age of New Zealand football is boosted by the rapacious spread of the Premier League. Here, just as in London and Hong Kong, kids align themselves with Manchester United.

The international game remains a hard sell. Rugby offers us a different view of ourselves on the world stage. Former All Black Chris Laidlaw summed up the appeal. "We may be small, isolated, lonely and not very confident, but by God we bow to nobody when it comes to rugby."

The All Whites didn't bow to Slovakia. Do we dare dream the impossible dream? Go on then, here's to a draw with Italy...

 

[La Furia]

It will be awesome if New Zealand has a more successful cup than Australia.

 

[-zlatan-]

WAHOO
1-1 with slovakia
1-1 with italy
That shudnt have been a penalty in the italy game he dived becuase he knew he couldnt and wouldnt reach the ball ;(
And that was a offside goal vs slovakia,!