The All Whites scored their biggest victory on home soil over non-Asian opponents in over forty years on a wintry October 14 evening, delighting an 8513-strong crowd as they mauled Malaysia 4-0 at North Harbour Stadium. The same nation copped a 6-1 drubbing from the All Whites in Christchurch in April 1984, and four decades on the white-clad hosts tore into their yellow-attired opponents with a similar sense of gusto, carving out their first opportunity just three minutes into the contest. Ben Waine was in the thick of things as Malaysia somehow scrambled away a Ben Old cross from the left, but the striker soon took possession and fired a shot goalwards. It was blocked, as was Old's attempt to head home the rebound. Four minutes later, a pinpoint corner into the danger zone from captain for the evening, Liberato Cacace, was punched off Waine's head by Ahmad Bin Mohamed, who had to be on his toes throughout proceedings as the visitors struggled to stave off the frequent goal threats mustered by their goal-hungry hosts. In the twelfth minute, Storm Roux - a mixed bag of a display - sent the ever-willing Waine scurrying to the right-hand by-line, where he shrugged off a challenge before picking out Elijah Just with a cross. His shot ricocheted off Bin Mohamed towards goal, only for Dominic Tan Jun Jin to clear off the line. The woodwork was rattled in the fifteenth minute as the All Whites again went close. Alex Rufer combined with Matt Garbett for the benefit of Just, who provided Garbett with a measured return pass. The midfielder picked out Waine with a cross, the striker's looping headed attempt striking the crossbar as Malaysia's goalkeeper flapped flamboyantly in a bid to keep the ball out. Bin Mohamed was to the fore again in the twentieth minute, blocking a Cacace twenty-yarder with his outstretched leg. Old was soon in possession, but was thwarted in full flight in the penalty area by Matthew Davies' timely tackle, before a Cacace-inspired raid down the left culminated in Garbett seeing a shot from the edge of the penalty area blocked to safety. The next flurry of goal-threatening action materialised around the half-hour mark, Garbett and Roux combining for the benefit of Old, who saw Bin Mohamed superbly tip his rising drive over the bar. Just delivered the resulting corner to the far post, where Michael Boxall towered over allcomers, only to direct his downward header narrowly past the upright. The All Whites were soon threatening again, however, a poor goal kick presenting Waine with the chance to break the deadlock, only for Harith Bin Adam Afkar to turn the shot narrowly over his own crossbar. From the resulting corner, Garbett unleashed a stinging twenty-five yarder which Bin Mohamed flew to his left to save, the goalkeeper then smothering a twenty-yarder from Waine as the All Whites pounded away in search of a deadlock-breaking goal. Well-performed referee Jack Morgan made very few errors in the contest, but one materialised in the 36th minute, the official awarding a goal-kick when Garbett's shot from the edge of the area clearly ricocheted off a defender en route past the far post. The longer the game went without an All Whites goal, the more the Malaysians fancied their chances, and after an Old cross flashed across the face of goal six minutes before half-time, the visitors stormed down the other end and enjoyed a solid spell of possession and pressure in the minutes before half-time. Despite the best efforts of the impressive Arif Bin Mohamed Hanapi, and a cross from Endrick Dos Santos Parafita which Boxall headed to safety before it reached Romel Morales Ramirez, its intended target, Malaysia never truly threatened Alex Paulsen's goal before the interval. They did in the minutes after play resumed, however, and the All Whites got lucky five minutes after half-time when a quicksilver Malaysian counter-attack saw them with a three-on-two advantage as they crossed the halfway line. Roux, the one New Zealand defender who was closest to the ball, slipped on the shower-slicked surface at the precise moment he could least afford to, but in doing so he inadvertently handled the ball, earning himself a yellow card, but almost certainly foiling what looked odds-on to be a goal for "The Tigers" which would have come completely against the run of play. As it was, they nearly broke the deadlock from the resulting goal-kick. Morales Ramirez wasted the set-

piece opportunity, but an angled cross from early substitute Muhammad Bin Abdul Rashid picked out the gangling free-kick taker, whose header was grabbed under the bar by Paulsen. Having survived that scare, the All Whites upped their game, although the sight of Bin Mohamed Hanapi slumping to the ground in the 53rd minute reduced the visitors to ten men just as they conceded the opening goal. Cacace led the home team's raid, taking full advantage of their numerical superiority with a driving run towards the edge of the penalty area, at which point he deliberately played the ball behind Waine and into the stride of Just, who swept the ball home into the far corner of the net to unleash an almighty roar from the many fans who were braving the unseasonal conditions to see their national team play on home soil for the first time since March 2023. Buoyed by the goal, the All Whites swiftly sought a second, Rufer directing a header narrowly past the post on receipt of a Cacace free-kick. And after Malaysia came close to levelling the scores on the hour - Paulsen was right behind Dos Santos Parafita's cross from the right as Corbin Ong La Vere Lawrence just failed in his attempt to head home from close range - the home fans got what they wanted, and more besides. It was a super second goal which materialised in the 61st minute. Just found Cacace surging up on the left, from where the fullback sent a low cross across the top of the penalty area. His delivery picked out Garbett, who picked out a beauty, steering the ball home via the base of Bin Mohamed's right-hand post to double the All Whites' advantage. The crowd was still cheering that goal when they found reason to cheer even more loudly - the emergence off the bench of the most prolific marksman in New Zealand's history, Premier League star Chris Wood. He wasted little time in making his presence known in the Malaysian rearguard, stabbing the ball narrowly over  the bar in the 65th minute after Just and Cacace had combined to carve out the half-chance. After the overworked Malaysian rearguard had scrambled a Cacace cross to safety, then deflected an Old drive past the post as the quest for a third All Whites goal continued unabated, the fans got what they wanted in the 72nd minute - a goal from the Nottingham Forest striker. Fellow substitutes Tim Payne and Costa Barbarouses combined on the right to create the opening, but Wood still had plenty to do as the ball arrived on the far post. He raced in to head it home, then swerving a split-second later to avoid a collision with the upright before running towards the fans who were producing the biggest cheer of the night in response to his efforts. Only a vital touch by Bin Adam Afkar prevented Wood from doubling his tally for the night two minutes later, as Sam Sutton's cross sizzled through the goalmouth towards the number nine, to which Malaysia responded five minutes later via a raking fifty yard pass from Davies, who sent Muhammad Bin Rosli racing down the right. Paulsen turned his low cross-shot round the post - the last goal threat mustered by "The Tigers", who could not withstand the All Whites' efforts to net a fourth goal before the final whistle, despite Bin Mohamed's efforts to restrict the natives' advantage to three. His save to thwart Marko Stamenic's top-corner-bound rocket from the edge of the area in the 86th minute was gravity-defying - Logan Rogerson and Sutton had combined superbly on the left in the build-up, while two minutes later Barbarouses skied a glorious chance set up by Just after Wood had caught Bin Mohamed in possession. The final attack of the night iced the All Whites' cake in some style. Barbarouses buccaneered down the left before slipping a pass inside to Rogerson, who fair hammered a twenty-five yarder home via the underside of the crossbar to put an emphatic exclamation mark on New Zealand's impressive 4-0 victory. All Whites:      Paulsen; Roux (booked, 50 (Payne, 62)), Boxall, Bindon, Cacace (Sutton, 70); Garbett (Barbarouses, 70), Rufer (Howieson, 78), Just, Stamenic; Waine (Wood, 62), Old (Rogerson, 78) Malaysia:     Bin Mohamed; Bin Mohamed Hanapi (Bin Rasid, 71), Davies (Bin Azmi Murad, 71), Bin Adam Afkar, Tan Jun Jin, Ong La Vere Lawrence; Bin Kutty Abba, Hamzah Laine (Bin Rosli, 71); Dos Santos Parafita (Bin Baharudin, 80), Morales Ramirez (Paulo Josue, 80), Yee Deng Lok (Bin Abdul Rashid, 17) Referee:           Jack Morgan (Australia)