The All Whites kicked off their two-match tour of the USA at the newly built BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston on May 23 by holding El Salvador to a 2-2 draw in front of a partisan 13,256-strong crowd, many of whom have emigrated from the Central American nation to the fourth most populous city in America. What they witnessed was a match which saw plenty of enterprise and endeavour from both teams in the first half-hour, without a great deal of accurate execution taking place. To emphasise this, there were just two incidents of note in the opening twenty-five minutes. New Zealand spurned a great chance to open the scoring in the eighth minute when Ivan Vicelich measured a pass into the stride of Michael McGlinchey, who scampered clear of the chasing defenders, only to be thwarted by Benji Villalobos as he attempted to lift the ball over the approaching goalkeeper. Five minutes later, El Salvador struck gold on the counter-attack. Jaime Alas’ early ball forward allowed Rafael Burgos to spring the offside trap and lob the advancing Mark Paston, much to the delight of the crowd and his team-mates. The scorer was denied a second goal in the 27th minute by Ian Hogg, who enjoyed a terrific debut for the All Whites. Alas and Nelson Bonilla combined to play in Burgos, but Hogg’s intervention averted the danger and ensured his team wouldn’t fall further behind. Indeed, they drew level just sixty seconds later, and it was Hogg himself who earned the plaudits. A marvellous move saw Leo Bertos, McGlinchey and Costa Barbarouses - a deft touch - combine for the wing-back’s benefit as he raced up in support on the left. An El Salvador defender initially clipped his heels, but Hogg kept going, and powered past two more opponents into the penalty area prior to unleashing a gem of an angled drive across the diving figure of Villalobos and into the net by the far post - 1-1, and how! Within sixty seconds, New Zealand could well have taken the lead - only the alert figure of Villalobos prevented Shane Smeltz from swooping to score after El Salvador captain Dennis Alas had been caught napping by Barbarouses, who threaded the needle with a gem of a pass in between three opponents to find Smeltz poised to pounce. Back came El Salvador, who contrived a delightful move ten minutes before half-time as the game started to improve quality-wise. Osael Romero’s surge on half-way saw him continue his run forward after slipping the ball into the stride of overlapping fullback Xavier Garcia. He turned the ball into Jaime Alas, whose precise pass rolled into Romero’s path as he powered into the penalty area, where he swept past Tommy Smith before driving a shot goalwards about which Paston knew little, the ball striking the ‘keeper on the shoulder and ricocheting past his near post to safety. New Zealand responded with another fine opportunity which deserved better fate in the 37th minute. Bertos and Marco Rojas combined to send Barbarouses away down the right, and his trickery accounted for two opponents before he looked to pick out Smeltz with a cross. Unfortunately for the All Whites, Villalobos read it superbly - had he missed it, the consequences would have proved costly for El Salvador. The last chance of the half, six minutes before half-time, saw another Jaime Alas pass prise open New Zealand’s rearguard. Bonilla’s dipping twenty yard effort cleared the crossbar by not a lot, meaning the teams turned around with the scores tied at one. That scoreline came within the width of a post of changing two minutes into the second spell. Bertos’ early angled ball forward from half-way deceived all-

comers, and suddenly Rojas found himself dashing through flimsy El Salvadorian defending at pace. He stood up Victor Turcios before slipping a low shot beyond Villalobos, only for the post to deny the lively All White winger. El Salvador recovered their poise and regained the lead in the 56th minute with by far the best move of the match, a delightful ten-pass interchange which featured, among others, Jaime Alas, half-time substitute Ramon Sanchez, Bonilla and the overlapping figure of Garcia, whose pullback saw Burgos, who had withheld his run, latch onto the ball and evade a challenge before pulling the trigger. His shot was flying across the face of goal before striking the luckless figure of Michael Boxall and cannoning off him straight into the top far corner of the net - 2-1 El Salvador, and very nearly 3-1 sixty seconds later. This time, Jaime Alas - a handful throughout - turned up on the left flank to latch onto a hurried Ben Sigmund clearance. The playmaker’s low cross left Paston in two minds, and when he went for it, he could only parry the sphere straight to the feet of Burgos. Another goal looked certain, but this time Boxall redeemed himself by diverting the goal-bound shot to safety. Having gone behind in unfortunate circumstances, the All Whites drew level again in the 64th minute through some fine opportunism and neat approach play. Paston’s clearance was splendidly controlled on half-way by Smeltz, who brought Bertos into play. The winger, who wasn’t as prominent as he would have preferred, dashed down the right before squeezing a pass in between two challenging defenders into the stride of Smeltz, who lashed a shot goalwards. Villalobos parried the effort, straight into the path of Barbarouses, who gained due reward for following in, as all strikers worth their salt should. 2-2 then, and all to play for. Substitute Lester Blanco sent a twenty yarder sizzling past Paston’s left-hand post soon afterwards, while substitutes Cameron Howieson - making his All Whites’ debut aged just seventeen - and Chris Wood combined at the other end thirteen minutes from time, the latter’s angled header flying past the far post. Cue a wealth of El Salvadorian pressure in the final ten minutes or so, as they looked to delight the masses with a late winner. But they encountered a resolute defensive effort from the All Whites, who restricted their rivals to just two chances in this time. The first of them could easily have won the game for El Salvador, as veteran striker Eliseo Quinzanilla picked out Jaime Alas in between defenders with a gem of a cross which the midfielder headed back inside for Ricardo Ulloa’s benefit. Smith stepped in to save the day this time round, while a thumping twenty-five yarder from Quinzanilla had Paston diving in vain four minutes from time, the ball careering past his left-hand upright with not a great deal of daylight twixt post and sphere. The final whistle sounded soon afterwards, much to the delight of the Kiwi team, who now head to the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas for a May 26 engagement with Honduras, opponents whom El Salvador face a fortnight later. El Salvador: Villalobos; Garcia, Figueroa, Turcios, Molina (Sanchez, 46); Romero (Quintanilla, 59), D. Alas, J. Alas (Ceren, 76), Pacheco; Bonilla (Blanco, 59), Burgos (Ulloa, 71) All Whites: Paston; Boxall, Sigmund (booked, 19), Smith; Bertos (Brockie, 65), Vicelich, McGlinchey, Hogg; Rojas (Howieson, 72), Smeltz (Wood, 65), Barbarouses Referee: Edvin Jurisevic (USA)