New Zealand’s All Whites maintained their current unbeaten streak to nine matches at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on September 5, as they downed host nation Saudi Arabia 1-0 to reach the final of the inaugural OSN Cup tournament. Ricki Herbert’s charges will take on the United Arab Emirates in the final, scheduled for the same venue at 6.15am on Tuesday, NZ time, after a stunning strike from substitute Chris Killen twelve minutes from time lit up an otherwise uninspiring affair played in temperatures not too far shy of 40C. The black-clad All Whites enjoyed the better of the early exchanges, but it was the white-clad “Al Saqour“, or “The Falcons”, as the Saudi Arabian national team is known locally, who enjoyed the first chance of the match, with Yousef Al-Salem heading a near post cross from Al Amdah into the side-netting. The All Whites began to get on top, however, with Tony Lochhead’s break down the left in the twelfth minute culminating in a cross which was cleared by Ahmed Assiri to Costa Barbarouses, whose shot deflected off the defender for a twice-taken corner. Chris James, last sighted on representative duty for his country four years ago, did his cause for more regular appearances no harm throughout this match, with his set-piece deliveries in particular giving the Saudi Arabians plenty of cause for concern, these corners no exception. The host nation survived, however, and the game quickly settled into a contest which, were it decided on offside calls, would have been a high-scoring affair. Sadly, it wasn’t, and a rather dour affair ensued, occasionally punctuated by incidents such as that in the nineteenth minute. Debutant Jake Butler linked well with Chris Wood, who deftly evaded a challenge before letting rip a goal-bound twenty yarder which Saudi goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah tipped round the post with a solid parried denial. The hosts enjoyed a decent spell around the half-hour mark, with the speedy Fahad Al-Muwallad, midfield general Taisir Al-Jassim and Al Amdah all going close in a five-minute spell without giving All Whites goalkeeper Glen Moss undue cause for concern. Just before half-time, the All Whites went close to breaking the deadlock in a game which was beginning to badly need a goal, so uninspiring was it becoming. Butler won an aerial duel half-way inside Saudi’s half and forwarded it to Wood, whose improvised flick presented Barbarouses with a great chance to score. Abdullah had other ideas, however, saving with his legs to spark a swift counter-attack featuring the pace of Mustafa Al-Bassas, who was ably supported by the lively Al-Muwallad. He opted to go it alone when the opportunity presented itself in the 42nd minute, the youngster’s deflected eighteen yard drive careering narrowly past the post. Right on half-time, the Al Whites went close again, James’ angled cross-field ball picking out Wood, whose header inside prompted Abdullah and Osama Hawsawi to get in a right tangle - not the smartest thing to do with Jeremy Brockie poised to swoop. Saudi Arabia survived that scare, and after emerging late at the start of the second half, proceeded to indulge in a bit of silly stuff soon after the resumption of play, Andrew Durante and Wood finding themselves unwilling victims of their hosts’ shenanigans, the latter copping a sloppy Liverpool kiss from Assiri which wasn’t seen by referee Abdullah Shaheed Mohammed and his otherwise well-performed team. Prior to this unforeseen stoppage, the All Whites threatened to give half-time goalkeeping substitute Abdullah Al-Sudairy the sort of introduction he

least wanted. Barbarouses failed to test the newcomer after working an opening with Lochhead, while following a James corner, Al-Bassas cleared at the second attempt after his initial effort to avert a drive from Brockie cannoned into Tommy Smith, the rebound briefly giving Butler a glimpse of a goal on debut before the Saudi midfielder recovered the situation. After Al-Jassim’s twenty-five yarder had been parried by Moss - the first genuine threat on New Zealand’s goal, in the 56th minute, arose following a blunder by the tiring figure of Butler - the All Whites retorted through a Winston Reid free-kick from similar range two minutes later. It was the last incident of note until fifteen minutes from time, with substitutions, a drinks break, niggly fouls and the omnipresent offside trap severely hampering the flow of a game which was on the fast track to a penalty shoot-out to decide which of these nations would take on the United Arab Emirates in the OSN Cup Final. A thirty yard free-kick from James, which clipped the angle of post and bar fifteen minutes from time, stimulated interest in a contest which was greatly in need of just such a boost, and one which got the goal it badly needed two minutes later. All Whites’ substitute Aaron Clapham pinged a raking ball forward for Barbarouses, who eventually got on the end of it after Mansoor Al-Harbi had failed to clear the threat posed by the sphere. The lively striker’s darting run inside culminated in him playing the ball across to another substitute, Chris Killen. From twenty-five yards, he unleashed a stupendous drive which Al-Sudairy got his fingertips to but couldn’t prevent from arrowing into the net by the foot of the post - 1-0 New Zealand, much to the disbelief of the paltry crowd in attendance on a hot evening in Saudi Arabia’s capital. The goal gave the game a much-needed boost, and prompted the hosts to seek a swift riposte. Straight from the resumption, they stormed downfield, with Al-Jassim lashing a twenty yard drive straight at Moss. Three minutes later, All Whites substitute Cameron Howieson - his was an eye-catching twenty-minute display - lined up a free-kick on the right wing, and drove it low towards the near post, where Smith darted in to meet it. The defender was left holding his head in frustration as this well-worked training ground ploy saw him stab a shot into the side-netting. Seconds later, Al-Sudairy was at full stretch to keep out a fiercely struck effort from Barbarouses as the All Whites looked to make their superiority count on the scoreboard. They had to settle for a lone-goal victory, however, after late attempts to equalise from Al-Bassas and substitute Abwusabaan had given the home team hope of taking the game to penalties. But when Moss saved the latter’s effort, which came at the end of a neat four-man move, the game was up for Saudi Arabia, much to the All Whites’ delight - a rare opportunity to secure some silverware is their reward for a well-earned 1-0 win in trying conditions. Saudi Arabia: Abdullah (Al-Sudairy, 46); Al-Bishi, Assiri, Hawsawi, Al-Barbi (booked, 90); Al-Bassas, Al-Jassim (Abwusabaan, 78), Kariri (booked, 50); Al-Amdah (Al-Shehri, 83), Al-Salem (Hazazi, 70), Al-Muwallad All Whites: Moss (booked, 90); Sigmund (Bertos, 63), Reid, Smith, Lochhead; Butler (Clapham, 61), Durante (Howieson, 70), James (booked, 89); Brockie, Wood (Killen, 63), Barbarouses Referee: Abdullah Shaheed Mohammed