Young pair turn up heat in NZ defence
By COEN LAMMERS - The Press
Last updated 05:00 01/06/2010


Winston Reid and Tommy Smith have given Ricki Herbert a bit of a headache, but the All Whites coach is not complaining.

The two young defenders played a superb match against the millionaires of Serbia and Herbert may have some sleepless nights wondering if he is going to stick with the old hands or his young guns against Slovenia on Saturday morning.

Uncompromising Ben Sigmund and evergreen Ivan Vicelich battled alongside Ryan Nelsen to get New Zealand to the World Cup, but they might find themselves pushed out by former Danish and English youth internationals.

The two "starters" could be forgiven for having mixed feelings watching New Zealand's historic win as the youngsters kept a clean sheet against Serbia.

Just as Chris Wood is keeping his striking buddies honest, Reid and Smith offer the coaches something unusual in New Zealand football: competition for spots.

Takapuna-born 22-year-old Reid seemed unfazed despite the rave reviews from Herbert.

He said he had not noticed any change in the camp with the increased competition.

"Everyone has been really good about that and there is a good spirit in the team," Reid said. "Everyone is trying to do their best. Obviously only 11 can play, but even though you are sitting on the bench you are trying to help the others and even your own competitors."

Reid grew into the match alongside Smith and Nelsen and put in a desperate tackle in the dying minutes to stop Nikola Zigic from scoring.

"We're still new to each other, but yesterday went well. We kept Serbia away from the big chances, so we did our job."

He also played his part in the winning goal, with a perfect pass onto the head of Rory Fallon to flick into Shane Smeltz's path.

The defender said those long deliveries were a regular part of his game at FC Midtjylland to launch his strikers, "but I don't always succeed".

"Last night it came off."

While Reid has legitimate hopes for another start, striker Jeremy Brockie is just happy to get any game time after a leg fracture threatened to ruin his World Cup.

The only things threatening him on Sunday were the angry Serbian fans behind the goal. Just after missing a golden opportunity to finish off the match, the Nelson midfielder got "a nice surprise" in the shape of a Jim Beam bottle that "landed in front of me".

Brockie had not really noticed the bottle, "till it landed on the ground in front of me and I thought, `whoa, that was aimed at me"'.
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However, he said it did not affect his focus because "we just had to concentrate on holding that lead", but "if it had hit me, it would have been a different story".

Herbert, for a moment, considered pulling his team off the pitch. However, the fans settled down after Manchester United defender and Serbia's captain Nemanja Vidic spoke to the crowd. "Whatever words he used, it must have worked because it didn't happen again," Brockie said.

The All Whites yesterday moved from St Lambrecht to Bad Waltersdorf, about two hours up the road, just across the border from Slovenia and close to Maribor, the venue of Saturday's match.

En route to their new lodgings, which are also used by Arsenal for pre-season camps, the All Whites saw England's win over Japan in Graz.

The squad have been joined by the newly married Chris Killen and Cole Peverley, filling the spot of the hurt Tim Brown.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sport/football/3760259/Young-pair-turn-up-heat-in-NZ-defence/