All Whites
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I've just watched the game against USA where we got a well-deserved 1-1 draw in DC. In the first game vs Mexico we were competitive too in a 2-1 loss (including a dubious penalty).
Based on the performances in these 2 games Hudson might have a bit more substance to him than I thought. He has definitely changed the style of play where they press high up the pitch, look much more comfortable in possession and play from the back. Long balls are no longer the first option.
As always the All Whites rely on a few key players. None more so than Reid who was immense in both games. But Wood, McGlinchey and Boxall are also important to the performance of the team.
Qualifying for Russia might not be such a longshot.
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Fuck, was that on Sky? Great result, would be amazing if we made another WC.
And yeah yeah I know it was only a draw, but a draw means an awful lot more in Soccer then other sports before the negative nellies get here.
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All Whites have been mostly terrible under Hudson so I'm surprised to see the good result. I think he has mostly changed how we play when we don't have the ball. I still think we need to put in a little bit of work when we have the ball. Part of the problem is that we haven't really had the combinations. We were probably the better team today and only conceded through a keeping error.
Problem with qualifying for Russia is we have to play the 5th South American team. Right now that is Argentina. We don't want to have to play them, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile or Ecuador (Quito is 2900 above sea level - makes jo'burg look easy). Colombia or Paraguay would be our best bets. At least we get the Confederations Cup next year to prepare.
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I'm not a fan per se, but good to hear we are being competitive and Reid is back.
I watched him play vs Middlesborough a week or so ago and I thought he played well given Boro had most of the possession and West Ham were doing a lot of efending.
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I watched the 1st half of the Vietnam match and was surprised to hear that the result was 0-0. Vietnam created plenty of chances in the 1st half.
A good result overnight though. France is one of the favourites so getting something out of that match would have been very difficult (they beat Vietnam 4-0). 4 pts is usually enough to advance to the next round provided they don't get blown out by France and end up with a negative GD.
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@Bovidae said in All Whites:
I watched the 1st half of the Vietnam match and was surprised to hear that the result was 0-0. Vietnam created plenty of chances in the 1st half.
A good result overnight though. France is one of the favourites so getting something out of that match would have been very difficult (they beat Vietnam 4-0). 4 pts is usually enough to advance to the next round provided they don't get blown out by France and end up with a negative GD.
Park the big white bus mate!!!
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And speaking of the All Whites...
All Whites squad for pre-Confederations Cup tour
Goalkeepers: Stefan Marinovic, Glen Moss, Tamati Williams
Defenders: Michael Boxall, Sam Brotherton, Kip Colvey, Tom Doyle, Andrew Durante, Storm Roux, Tommy Smith, Themi Tzimopoulos, Deklan Wynne, Dane Ingham
Midfielders: Michael McGlinchey, Ryan Thomas, Clayton Lewis, Bill Tuiloma, Marco Rojas, Alex Rufer
Forwards: Kosta Barbarouses, Monty Patterson, Shane Smeltz, Chris Wood​
Fixtures (All NZ time)
June 3 v Northern Ireland
June 7 v Cabinteely
June 12 v Belarus
June 18, 3am v Russia (Confederations Cup)
June 21, 6am v Mexico (Confederations Cup)
June 25, 3am v Portugal (Confederations Cup) -
Pity Michael Fitzgerald can no longer play for the side - we need all the help we can get. Would also add GK Jake Gleeson instead of Glen Moss/Tamati Williams.
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@Chris-B. said in All Whites:
@canefan So far, we're doing as well as England.
But more surprisingly, we're doing better than Germany, Portugal, Italy, Japan and, notably, Argentina, who are already knocked out.
I watched last night. We did well to withstand the pressure after letting a goal in and score again
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@Chris-B. I have only watched a little of the action but France, Venezuela and Uruguay look to be the 3 best teams.
The Zambia-Iran game was bizarre. I saw Iran take a 2-0 lead early in the second half from a penalty, after an early fuck-up by the Zambian GK gifted a goal in the first 10 mins. I did something else for 30 mins and switched back to the game and Zambia now led 4-2.
At this level anything can happen so I wouldn't be surprised if the eventual winner wasn't one of the 3 countries above. Serbia upset Brazil in the final in NZ 2 years ago.
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@hydro11 No Ryan Nelsen to organise the defence. I'm sure Reid would have been doing that role at the Confed Cup. Dura might be the man this time.
Simon Elliott was the unsung hero in 2010 as the holding midfielder.
So for the U20s tonight, a Honduras win or draw with Vietnam means NZ would go through as group runners-up. Vietnam would need a comprehensive win to improve their GD to move into 2nd. If that happened then a NZ loss to France wouldn't be too bad provided they don't leak goals and have to fight it out as one of the 3rd placed teams.
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The end of the road for the NZ U20s losing to USA. I watched the 1st half and we spent most of the time defending to trail 1-0 from a deflected shot. Same old story on attack though, no service to the strikers meant a lack of shots on goal, or any real attacking threat.
I'm glad I didn't stay up for the 2nd half as the USA scored 5 unanswered goals.
And to prove my point on how unpredictable this tournament is, Italy upset France 2-1 in the other late game. France was one of the favourites and had beaten Italy 4-0 in the UEFA European U-19 Championship final a year ago.
The All Whites play Northern Ireland at 6:45 am tomorrow on SS2.
