they had it at the start. they had 50-50 possession at one stage but they fell away one the slovaks settled a bit.

Smeltz really struggled at make any impact in most of the match. His header was very average technically for a player of his usually high standards.

I think that playing the strongest group member in Australia's case against what the other 3 played as secondary players in the groups really does not show the true positions just yet. The true test is getting out of the group. Anything other than that at the end of the day is a failure at WC level.

Korea and Japan did their job well to put themselves in strong initial positions, but NZ needed to win their game to have any chance of going forard I would strongly suspect. A point is a point but with the 2 strongest teams to come, it is not the best position to be in.

Edited by Heart_fan: 16/6/2010 01:16:09 AM

If that was 3-4-3 Ill go jump. It may have been on paper, but in reality, look at the way it changed pretty much from the outset. The game was on the Slovaks boots nearly all game, or the parts I was awake for :). The fact is that NZ can not play a traditional 3-4-3 at the WC, they would be ripped apart, as it is far too attacking for them to pull off successfully. NZ fans can be defensive if you want about it all you like, but the fact is they lack the experience and defensive strength to pull it off against stronger teams. A traditional 3-4-3 is an attacking formation, which, as you could plainly see, they were definately not doing.

A paper line up does not always dictate the true outcome of the way a game is played.

Edited by Heart_fan: 16/6/2010 01:08:58 AM

Well done NZ.

Thought Smeltz blew their chance late in the game, but great to see that they kept pushing right to the end.

NZ, Korea and Japan all being able to get results must be eating at the Socceroos too.

You obviously were asleep because playing 3-4-3 isn't parking the bus.

I think you're a fool for putting the :oops: emoticons there, but get your point about celebrating points in the World Cup.

Edited by diego's son: 16/6/2010 12:36:48 AM

:oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

It was actually 1974 that we got our 1st point mate, 0-0 vs Chile in the last group game.

Watching the whine disappear from his face was priceless. So glad someone has a screen shot of that.

But at the same time, confidence is key in football (see Robert Green) and it could do serious damage in the australian camp the rest of the cup. That said, Kewell on the pitch now will boost the players immensely and could be another reason why Pim didn't bring him on, saving it for a key game.

New Zealand's confidence from getting their first goal and walking away against more fancied opponents will be boosted. They'll be looking to stun paraguay given half a chance, though by then they'll have a fit Cardozo to deal with.

Now thats how you park the bus and get a result on the counter... terrible game but got a point from the game. It is likely the weakest of the teams in the group though that they were playing, so its hard to tell how good that will be with the other 2 teams.

Well done on the result, but I needed to be woken up near the end of the game by its glacial pace and NZ's defensive gameplan. Its the WC though, so a positive result is what you need.

Edited by Heart_fan: 16/6/2010 12:20:54 AM

remember what happened when we beat japan. I know was going nuts.
And I would have done the same if we had drawn. Our first points in a WC. Big deal. Let them have this.

I would liken the match to walking along the beach, and kicking over someone's sandcastle that is nearly finished.

They've almost finished what they set out to do, and then someonn (reid) who has done nothing themselves walks along and boots the sandcastle to the ground. Neither party really gains anything from it, except the sandcastle builder is sad and pissed off, and the kicker just has a great sense of satisfaction.

Well done NZ. Slovakia was such a more skillful team but NZ grinded it out, and what a great finish to a match.

The kiwis were celebrating like they had won the WC :)

Anything can happen i guess.. remember last time NZ and Italy played (last year) italy came from behind to win 4-3

Great news from NZ!

Hope that you guys can get out of your group even if we fail to.

I agree. Very good to see teams actually in our region grabbing wins.

few more caps.. :D



.

Btw that Slovakian goal was clearly offside in the replay.. but hey

they're not results that allow you to compare aus to nz. Im not saying Slovakia is a bad team, great effort to draw with them, but you could say the opposite if, hypothetically, NZ played italy first, and lost, and Aus played Serbia first and drew.

We're one game in, NZ has played its easiest opponent, and Aus has played its hardest opponent. There's a long way to go, and Im just saying that I dont think there's any point to comparing the total points of Aus and NZ at this stage

To play poorly and steal a point at the end is a great result. We can definately play better and we will need to if we do who knows.

ahh your right...maybe.. not sure... not been getting much sleep the last few nights for obvious reasons :P..

Thought it might be a old Aussie one

Edited by moxstar: 16/6/2010 12:00:25 AM

Japan and South Korea both have 3 points. So by my reckoning thats Asia 6 and Oceania 1.:lol:

oh and best cap of the game.. they showed it in super slow mo.. priceless

pretty sure that's a South African.

^ err, that's a South African jersey mate

Well done Kiwis!

lol @ the Australian guy taking the slovaks hat

Well Done All Whites !
Great Game. Kept posession fairly well
Good attacking at last.

I don't think New Zealand played that well, just Slovakia weren't very good and New Zealand kept the pressure on and rattled them.

Re-evaluate on Saturday when Australia have played Ghana and still have no points and New Zealand have played Italy and still have one point.

Hey I was happy with New Zealand's performance because they represented the A-League more than the Socceroos do.

I was hoping Smeltz would have bagged a few, so that a European team somewhere would pick him up and take him off our hands in the A-League. :p

Nico23
Great Result for NZ but what it does reveal that Europe does produce some absolutely crappy overrated teams Slovakia is one and Serbia is the other to name a few.