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Eye-Catching All Whites Held By China
by Jeremy Ruane
A strong second half showing from the All Whites earned Ricki Herbert’s charges a 1-1 draw against China at the Wuhan Sports Centre Stadium on March 25, as New Zealand kicked off a four-year programme which will hopefully conclude in Brazil at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Finals.
With this in mind, Herbert named a blend of experienced and youthful players for this one-off fixture, three of whom - Marco Rojas, Michael Fitzgerald and the impressively performed Michael Boxall - made their international debuts as second half substitutes.
The last-mentioned was a half-time replacement for Andy Boyens, who had a horror start to the match, inadvertently putting through his own net in just the second minute. Deng Zhuoxiang’s corner picked out China’s captain, Du Wei, and his powerful header forced a parried save by Glen Moss.
The ball ricocheted from the ‘keeper onto the retreating figure of Boyens, and off the defender into the net, a blow from which the All Whites struggled to recover - they were all at sea during the first fifteen minutes, and were fortunate not to concede a second goal in that time.
In the ninth minute, Cui Peng spread play wide to Yan Xiangchuang, who raced off down the right past Tony Lochhead before battering a low cross-shot towards the near post. Moss parried this effort, and was relieved to see Ivan Vicelich reach the rebound first.
Three minutes later, China went closer still. A stray David Mulligan pass was pounced on by Yu Dabao, who wrong-footed Vicelich before steering his shot wide of Moss from the edge of the penalty area. The ‘keeper looked round to see the ball rebound off the post and straight into his hands - a real let-off for the beleaguered visitors.
New Zealand began to get a toe-hold in the contest after China’s fiery start, and in the eighteenth minute gave the home team something to think about. It was old-fashioned route one football, with Moss’ raking clearance picking out Chris Wood, who controlled the ball on his chest before stabbing a shot wide of goalkeeper Zeng Cheng’s left-hand post.
Twelve minutes later, the All Whites engineered their best chance so far. Mulligan and Chris Killen combined, with the latter’s delicious defence-splitting pass tailor-made for Wood to stride onto and lift over the advancing Cheng into the net.
That’s what the script said, but Chinese defender Li
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Weifeng had other ideas. He executed a superb covering tackle which saw the ball ricochet off Wood and over the bar, with the striker colliding with the advancing figure of Cheng as the trio converged.
Sadly, Cheng stayed down, and such was his condition that after being stretchered from the pitch, he was swiftly put in an ambulance bound for Wuhai Pu’ai Hospital, ten minutes’ drive away.
The game took a few minutes to regain its impetus after this incident, but just before the half-time break, a flurry of opportunities could well have seen the scoreline alter - indeed, the All Whites should have gone in on level terms.
After Dabao had just failed to get on the end of a fizzing Rong Hao cross from the left, a poor clearance by replacement Chinese goalkeeper, Cheng Yuelei, landed straight at the feet of Jeremy Brockie, whose wayward pot-shot just about summed up New Zealand’s first half performance - far from impressive.
China responded with a Yu Hanchao-inspired raid, which culminated in Hao picking out Zhuoxiang with a cross-field ball. The midfielder brought a fine save from Moss, who quickly sparked an All Whites’ counter-attack from which they should have drawn level.
The ball found its way out to Killen, on the left flank. His clipped cross was flicked on by Wood into the path of Brockie, who, with the goal at his mercy, directed an unchallenged header straight at Yuelei - a glorious chance spurned.
Just as well for Brockie that his team-mates set about making amends for his failure to score from the moment Japanese referee Masaaki Toma’s whistle sounded to start the second half.
Half-time substitute Costa Barbarouses was swift to make his mark on proceedings, darting in to head a Killen corner narrowly over the crossbar in the 52nd minute. Sixty seconds later, the visitors were level.
Tony Lochhead’s cross was blocked, but Shane Smeltz - the beneficiary of a half-time tactical change by Herbert, having been missing, presumed having a good time in the first forty-five minutes - was on hand to pick out Killen with a cross. The striker guided the ball down to Michael McGlinchey, whose eighteen yard volley arrowed across Yuelei’s dive en route to the far corner of the net.
1-1, then, and all to play for on an awful playing surface - it wasn’t a patch on the pitch the Football
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Ferns’ matches against Brazil and Denmark took place on at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals here four years ago, that’s for sure!
The All Whites made light of it, however, and enjoyed the better of the second half exchanges by some distance. Boxall was calmness personified on debut, while fellow half-time substitute Barbarouses, the midfield duo, McGlinchey and Mulligan, Smeltz and stand-in captain Vicelich all caught the eye in a game from which New Zealand, as far as this writer was concerned, deserved greater reward.
After Smeltz had headed a Brockie cross narrowly over the bar, Mulligan forced a blocked save by Yuelei which was necessary to prevent the midfielder’s rasping twenty-five yarder from soaring into the top corner of the net in the 68th minute.
China’s ‘keeper produced an even better save six minutes later, Killen his unwilling victim after Smeltz had pounced on a stray pass to lead an All Whites counter-attack which culminated in the Chinese-based Kiwi striker letting fly from fifteen yards.
Prior to this, Moss had produced a fine blocked save to foil Hanchao, who had dashed through in pursuit of a Huang Bowen pass. Hanchao then narrowly failed to get on the end of an angled pass from Hao thirteen minutes from time, a miss which caught Moss off-guard - he only parried the ball, forcing a scrambled clearance by his defence.
Smeltz and Mulligan let fly from distance inside the next ten minutes - both were astray - while the former was only denied a late winner by Yuelei, who punched the ball off the head of Smeltz after McGlinchey, debutant substitute Rojas and Lochhead had combined on the left.
Either side of this effort, China could have pinched a victory they didn’t deserve. On both occasions, Moss saved the day, his prowess in one-on-one situations thwarting both Zhuoxiang and Dabao in the final minutes of a match which New Zealand should be fairly pleased with, particularly re the eye-catching performances of a crop of young players who, despite their lack of experience at this level, didn’t look out of place on the world stage.
China: Cheng (Yuelei, 34); Jianye, Wei, Weifeng; Xiangchuang (Junmin, 66), Bowen, Peng, Zhuoxiang, Hao; Dabao, Hanchao
All Whites: Moss; Boyens (Boxall, 46), Vicelich, Smith (booked, 15); Brockie (Fitzgerald, 78), Mulligan, McGlinchey (Clapham, 89), Lochhead; Wood (Barbarouses, 46), Killen (Rojas, 78), Smeltz
Referee: Masaaki Toma (Japan)
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