Boy is RYAN NELSEN some LEADER ! WELL DONE KIWIS . ( NEW ZEALAND Will be GOING RIGHT OFF ). Also goalkeeper MARK PASTON was SENSATIONAL.


What do you think about the FourFourTwo article Nelsen Was Ricki's Kiwi Hero?
ALL Whites captain Ryan Nelsen was the inspiration behind New Zealand's amazing 1-1 draw with World Cup defending champion Italy, according to coach Ricki Herbert.

Have your say.

The ref was right to be concerned about Fallon - the guy's a thug. Every single headed ball he was deliberately putting his elbows up in dangerous positions. He was very lucky not to have been dealt with more severely.

...someone's a tad bitter

I'm guessing you lost money last night eh :P

LeedsForever - Do you have a dysfunctional caps lock button?

Nope - never spent a cent on betting in my life!

Saying Fallon is a 'thug' is perhaps slightly inflated, but he did make elbow/arm contact with the head/face of Italian defenders on several occasions. But apparently it's a conspiracy:

"One of their tactics was to go to ground clutching their face whenever Rory Fallon contested a header. Fallon courts scrutiny because of his technique in the air, and he often goes up with his arms outstretched, but he's often penalised for simply being better in the air than his opponents."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/fifa-world-cup/news/article.cfm?c_id=524&objectid=10653351

If you're going up for headers with your arms outstretched every time, you've only got yourself to blame - fix your technique!

And then there's the penalty conspiracy:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10653411

I had no problem with Fallon getting fouls called - he was very lucky not to be sent off, as he kept going in arms raised even after the booking and it was good management by Herbert to pull him when he did. Having said that, if the ref was to be consistent, we should have had a penalty for the forearm read copped in the face late in the game, but it wasn't to be.

* Reid

Nelson does a great job back there for the All Whites. I though Paston was exceptional aswell.

He's there version on Neil. Makes there backline work.

Sometimes when you TYPE like THIS, I get a LITTLE BIT ANNOYED because it makes me put more EMPHASIS on some WORDS.

Regarding Fallon, at one point he got a little bit of contact of one of the Italians, who then proceeded to go to ground clutching THE OTHER SIDE OF HIS FACE (this caps lock thing is catchy). They certainly were milking it. Anyway, after Grosso's disgusting dive in 2006 why are we even debating this?

I know the whole idea today is to congratulate the NZ team (it really was a joy to watch) I also can't help thinking that only if NZ was a state of Australia and Ryan Nelson was therefore alongside Lucas Neill in defense...

Canavarro was a horrible little weasel. Everytime the ball went high, he was CLIMBING up Fallon's back, then FALLING off and "hurting" himself, and somehow was getting a penalty awarded.