2010 FIFA World Cup Team Reviews – New Zealand

By D. Victor
for SoccerMyLife.com

Published: September 10, 2010

With Australia moving to the Asian confederation, New Zealand was the top team in Oceania – FIFA’s weakest confederation. The Oceania champions beat fifth-placed Asian side Bahrain in the playoffs to reach to World Cup for the second time ever. The “All Whites”, as they are called, made their World Cup debut in the 1982 tournament in Spain. Drawn in a tough group with Brazil, Soviet Union and Scotland, New Zealand lost all three games and conceded 12 goals. Their sole consolation was scoring two goals against Scotland in a 5-2 defeat.

Little was expected of the All Whites since they came from a very weak confederation and found themselves in a tough group at the 2010 tournament. New Zealand regularly plays teams like Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Such teams cannot be compared with Italy, Slovakia and Paraguay – New Zealand’s Group F opponents. Apart from that, the previous appearances of the New Zealand team in intercontinental tournaments were dismal. In nine Confederations Cup matches, they had only 1 draw against Iraq and 8 losses, scoring 2 goals and conceding 24. More recently, in the 2009 Confederations Cup, the All Whites conceded 7 goals and earned a solitary point – a 0-0 draw with Iraq.

New Zealand began their first match of the 2010 tournament against Slovakia. Although Slovakia was not favoured to advance from the group, they were clear favourites against the Oceania team. After leading 1-0 up to added time, the Slovakians conceded a heartbreaking last-minute goal to Winston Reid. New Zealand earned their first point at the World Cup thanks to that late equalizer.

In the second match, New Zealand was supposed to be well out of depth; they faced the defending champions, Italy. New Zealand took an early lead in that game after a well worked set play. Later in the half, the Italians equalized through a penalty. However, the All Whites kept the Azurris at bay and registered their second-ever World Cup point.

In the last match against Paraguay, New Zealand actually had a good chance to advance if they beat the South Americans. However, they lacked the necessary firepower and could only manage a goalless draw to end their campaign unbeaten. New Zealand accumulated three points from three games and was only the sixth team to play unbeaten in a World Cup without winning it.

New Zealand’s performance was decisive in Group F. Their composure in defence was partly responsible for the Italians’ failure to progress beyond the group stage. They were expected to lose every match and concede a number of goals. Instead, they performed far above expectations and only conceded two goals. The only complaint was that their style of play was unattractive to neutrals. However, the team had an amazing run at the 2010 tournament. Unlike France and Italy, the All Whites left the tournament with enhanced reputations.

Every World Cup has its controversies and the 2010 tournament is no different. Read about some of the card-happy referees at the 2010 edition here: http://www.helium.com/items/1868518-referee-mistakes-at-world-cup

Author: D. Victor
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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