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101009
Advantage All Whites After Bahrain Miss A Sitter
by Jeremy Ruane
A squandered open goal by Bahrain fifteen minutes from time in Manama's National Stadium has handed New Zealand the advantage following the first leg of the Asia/Oceania World Cup play-off, with the All Whites securing a scoreless draw in the smallest of the Gulf State nations on October 10.
The first half was an extremely cagey affair, with Bahrain's pace advantage largely countered by the All Whites' physicality. It took twenty minutes for the first shot in anger to be fired, Jaycee Okwunwanne's fierce twenty-yarder swerving past Mark Paston's left-hand upright after a stray Simon Elliott pass had found its way to the striker's feet.
Four minutes later, a corner from Bahrain's captain, Mohammed Salmeen, was flicked on at the near post by Hussain Baba, and his central defensive partner, Sayed Mohamed, only just failed to make contact with a full-length diving header on the far post.
Seconds later, Husain Ahmed gave Leo Bertos and Ben Sigmund cause aplenty for concern when he jinked past the pair of them before lashing a low drive into the side-netting beside Paston's near post.
The All Whites weathered this flurry of attacking activity and, late in the first half, created a couple of openings of their own. Baba had to step in to clear a Tony Lochhead cross after Chris Killen's left flank labouring, while from the resulting Elliott corner, Rory Fallon was unable to direct a difficult volley on target, executed despite having his back to goal and a defender on his shoulder.
The second spell was a much more open, adventurous affair, with Bahrain coming out all guns blazing after a right royal rev-up from their coach, Czech Republic native Milan Macala.
Within two minutes of the resumption, Ahmed made a meal of a gilt-edged opening afforded him by Salmeen's deft header over a square defence. This left the striker one-on-one with the advancing figure of Paston in the penalty area. But Ahmed got his attempted lob woefully wrong, effectively affording the `keeper catching practice.
Sixty seconds later, Ahmed darted through the inside-left channel, determined to make amends for his blemish. He got to the by-line before pulling the ball back for Mohammed Hubail, whose twenty-yarder flew past the opposite upright.
Jalal, Baba, Mohamed and Salmeen then combined to send Ahmed racing through the inside-right channel, as the Ryan Nelsen-led New Zealand defence reeled under this early second half onslaught. On this occasion, Paston raced off his line to save at the striker's feet.
The All Whites countered with a 53rd minute raid which saw Lochhead fire in an early cross beyond the far post for Shane Smeltz. Baba blocked his effort for a corner, which was cleared to Leo Bertos. His cross saw Fallon rise above Bahrain goalkeeper Sayed Jaffer, but the striker was unable to guide his header towards the target.
After Okwunwanne had blazed over from ten yards following a penetrating raid by overlapping fullback Salman Isa, Fouzi Aaish dashed past two opponents before letting fly from just inside the penalty area.
Paston parried this shot round the post, but was found wanting from Isa's resulting corner, the goalkeeper's relief that Bahrain were unable to capitalise on the opportunity evident for all-comers to see.
Twenty minutes from time, Jalal clipped a free-kick from just outside the penalty area over the defensive wall and onto the roof of New Zealand's net as Paston stood static. The net bulged two minutes later, but it was Bahrain's
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 Rory Fallon beats Sayed Jaffer in the air
 Simon Elliott hauls back Husain Ahmed
 Ivan Vicelich tangles with Jaycee Okwunwanne
 Shane Smeltz shields from Hussain Baba
 Chris Killen climbs above Mohammed Salmeen
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inside which the ball was planted, only for the celebrations of substitute Christopher Wood to be cut short by the offside flag.
The other All White substitute, Michael McGlinchey, was to make an even greater impact in the time he was on the park, timely tackles and telling passes alike causing Bahrain no end of trouble.
An example of the latter came in the 74th minute, when he picked out Killen on the edge of the penalty area, from where the Celtic striker curled a shot just past the far post.
Bahrain's response? The miss of the match, and, although we won't know for certain until after the second leg at Wellington's Westpac Stadium on November 14, perhaps the moment they missed out on qualifying for the World Cup Finals?
Salmeen, inevitably, was the architect of the move, his slide-rule pass slipping Isa through the offside trap. The fullback romped round the diving Paston to find himself with an open goal to aim at from a tight angle, and with team-mate Okwunwanne onside in the six-yard box with the goal at his mercy.
The All Whites have labelled this two-legged affair “One Shot For Glory”. This was Isa's, and he botched it big-time, the ball cannoning to safety off the post. Bahrain's coach, Macala, couldn't withdraw him from the fray quickly enough.
Before he departed, Baba pinged the ball forward for Hubail, whose volley on the turn was tipped over by Paston. After Isa left, Smeltz released McGlinchey down the right into the space vacated by the fullback, and after he evaded a challenge, the substitute picked out Killen with a measured cross which saw the striker send a challenging volley thundering past Jaffer's left-hand post ten minutes from time.
Back came Bahrain, with Salmeen, substitute Ismaeel Latif and Hubail setting up a shooting chance for Okwunwanne, only for the combined efforts of Sigmund and Nelsen to block the striker's 84th minute attempt for a corner, from which a wayward Sigmund clearance presented Jalal with a shooting chance - the ball cleared the crossbar by a narrow margin.
The All Whites retorted via a long throw-in from Bertos, which saw Smeltz and Elliott combine to present Sigmund with a shooting chance which the defender sent flying wide of the target.
It prompted a last flurry of opportunities for Bahrain, with Paston saving at the feet of substitute Aala Hubail seconds before another replacement, Mahmood Abdulrahman, sent the final shot of the match - a thirty yard piledriver of a free-kick - fizzing inches over Paston's crossbar.
While it's only half-time in this two-legged affair, the scoreless draw sets up the tie on 14 November in Wellington, where the All Whites will look to make home advantage count against opponents whose better World Cup form in this campaign has been produced on their travels …
With the threat of a Bahrain goal meaning the All Whites will need to score twice to ensure progress, it should be a fascinating contest, with a place at South Africa 2010 the ultimate reward for victory.
Bahrain: Jaffer; Omar, Baba, Jalal, Isa (Abdulrahman, 79); M. Hubail, Mohamed, Salmeen, Aaish; Ahmed (Latif, 65), Okwunwanne (A. Hubail, 86)
New Zealand: Paston (booked, 77); Sigmund (booked. 69), Nelsen (booked, 90), Vicelich; Bertos, Brown (McGlinchey, 68), Elliott, Lochhead; Killen, Fallon (Wood, 66), Smeltz
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
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