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Wales Held By Inexperienced All Whites
by Jeremy Ruane
A vastly inexperienced All Whites side made light of their lack of international know-how at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground to hold Wales to a 2-2 draw in front of 7819 fans on May 26.
It was something of an embarrassing result for John Toshack's charges, who twice had to come from behind against opponents who are located over fifty places below Wales in FIFA's latest rankings.
Indeed, but for the outstanding Craig Bellamy, the All Whites would have scored a win which, given their under-strength side, would have ranked as one of their finest ever. As it is, the moral victory is theirs, and with justification aplenty.
There were many stars in the all-blue-clad All Whites who covered themselves in glory in this match, but the one who ultimately attracted the most attention bathed himself in glory just 107 seconds into the action.
Shane Smeltz unleashed a ten-yard bullet low past Danny Coyne to open the scoring, after James Pritchett and Tim Brown had worked an opening down the right in tandem with Jeremy Christie, whose low cross rewarded the buccaneering run into the penalty area of Duncan Oughton. His pull-back was deflected into Smeltz's path - 1-0 New Zealand.
The local faithful were stunned - this was supposed to be a stroll in the park against, at best, moderate opposition, who were meant to put up token opposition and nothing more as Wales' combination of journeymen and, in the cases of Bellamy and Ryan Giggs, glory men recorded another win.
That that script had failed to reach New Zealand's dressing room was eminently obvious, not just because of the goal either. There were a fair few willing challenges going in during the game's early stages, and Norwegian referee Tommy Fkjerven had his hands full at times maintaining a sense of order midst the disorder into which the All Whites' barnstorming start had thrown Wales' plans.
While the home team were regathering their poise, Mark Paston, upon grabbing a Giggs free-kick, promptly threw the ball out to Leo Bertos in the eighth minute. After turning his marker, he scooted down the right before spotting Coyne off his line. A cheeky chip from out on the sideline saw the `keeper back-pedalling furiously to grab the ball under the angle of bar and post.
This stirred the natives into action, and after Sam Ricketts had curled a shot across the face of goal, the Welsh equalised with a super move in the eighteenth minute. A quick-fire one-two on half-way between Simon Davies and Giggs saw the former thunder into New Zealand's half before rewarding Giggs' supporting run with a measured pass.
Wales' captain took the ball on before whipping a low cross into the area just outside the six-yard box. Bellamy had daylight for company as the sphere appeared, and an unerring strike left Paston beaten all ends up.
The Welsh, bolstered by the goal, suddenly got into their stride, and contrived another enterprising move involving Carl Robinson, Giggs and the overlapping Ricketts, whose first-time cross intended for Bellamy or Robbie Earnshaw foundered on Ben Sigmund's diving header clear.
Seconds later, debutant fullback Chris Gunter sent Earnshaw through, and he skipped past a couple of opponents before playing the ball wide to Giggs. His unselfish low cross for Bellamy was thwarted by another debutant in Andy Boyens.
New Zealand regained the lead in the 24th minute. Chris James - yet another impressive display in his
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fledgling All Whites career - pinged in a free-kick from the left which Wales' defence failed to clear adequately - James Collins and the clearly unfit Daniel Gabbidon were a poor combination throughout this match.
Their failings were pounced on by Brown, the All Whites' captain, who clipped a lovely cross into the goalmouth. Lurking with intent was Smeltz, who darted in front of a defender and directed a bullet header low beyond Coyne - 2-1, and the prospect of the Antipodeans slaying the Dragons was, now, no longer a fantasial proposition.
For on the half-hour, only a timely block by Gunter denied James, after Brown and Bertos had combined to present Smeltz with the ball, his lay-off inviting the main man in New Zealand's U-20 World Cup squad to let fly from twenty yards.
Bellamy had had enough of the nonsense going on behind him, so decided to take matters into his own hands in an effort to drag his country out of the mire. In the 38th minute, the Liverpool striker came deep to receive a pass from Davies, then laid the ball off to Gunter before surging forward for the return.
Receiving the ball outside the penalty area, Bellamy paused briefly, then powered purposefully past one challenge, then another, before unleashing a ferocious fifteen-yard drive towards the far corner of the net.
The lunging figure of Tony Lochhead made contact with the ball, but only succeeded in deflecting it beyond the already committed figure of Paston, who would have been hard-pressed to prevent Bellamy's second equaliser of the day from finding the net even if it hadn't been deflected. A cracking strike!
At 2-2, this lively affair was nicely poised, and two minutes before half-time, the home team came close to taking the lead. Giggs released Ricketts down the left, the overlapping fullback whipping in a cross which Earnshaw met with a sweetly struck shot on the turn. Cue a super parried save at close quarters by Paston - a top stop from the big man.
The second half saw Wales change their structure in an effort to put more pressure on the All Whites, who simply dropped in a little deeper to counter the five-man midfield now facing them. It was the visitors who enjoyed the first opening of the half, but Bertos, having done all the hard work, shot tamely at substitute custodian Wayne Hennessey.
After grabbing Davies' driven cross before Bellamy could swoop, Paston produced a great save in the 53rd minute to thwart another half-time substitute. Ricketts rampaged down the right this time, but his cross was blocked. It landed perfectly for Joe Ledley, who unleashed a screamer from twelve yards, only to see Paston fling himself to his right to spectacularly maintain parity.
Seconds later, a clearance out of the Welsh defence sent Bellamy haring forward in pursuit of the ball. Boyens was the covering defender, but neither reckoned on Paston hurtling well out of his penalty area to attempt to clear the danger.
He didn't succeed, and as the two Kiwi players looked on behind them in horror, Bellamy picked up the pieces and looked to put them away, only for the covering figure of Sigmund to steer the goal-bound ball to safety. Giggs' resulting corner was met by substitute Steve Evans, whose header flashed past the upright.
Wales were getting on top now, with Bellamy their inspiration. A neat one-two with Davies down the right resulted in the goalscorer picking out Ledley with his cross. He headed it across to Earnshaw, off whose head Paston punched the ball. The
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goalkeeper then recovered quickly to foil Ledley's attempt to capitalise.
Just after the hour mark, Earnshaw spurned a great chance to put Wales in front. Pouncing on a wayward James Pritchett header intended for Paston, the striker tried to chip the `keeper, but succeeded only in giving the All Whites' custodian catching practice.
Seconds later, the quick-thinking Bellamy took a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area, while all-comers were milling around preparing for a shot at goal. Ledley was on Bellamy's wavelength, and took full advantage of the opportunity, drilling a low cross across the face of goal. Davies, darting in on the far post, just failed to make contact.
In the 68th minute, Collins released Giggs down the left, and his measured cross to the far post saw Davies direct a looping header over the bar, his effort owing much to Lochhead's efforts to put him off.
Two minutes later, the defender was fortunate to escape the attentions of a lenient referee, as he sent Bellamy tumbling while in full flight. Giggs took a more conventional free-kick this time, his effort clearing the wall but not the gloves of Paston.
He launched the ball downfield, and James soon found himself in possession. His initial thrust was thwarted by the Welsh defence, but Gabbidon's hesitance in mopping up the danger was swiftly pounced on by Smeltz, who quickly lashed a shot beyond the stunned figure of Hennessey. The inside of the post came to Wales' rescue, the ball ricocheting off it to safety.
Back came Wales, led by substitute Chris Llewellyn this time. His 82nd minute pass slipped Bellamy in on the left, and the striker raced into the penalty area before rolling a shot past the advancing figure of Paston. Boyens raced back to clear off the line and deny Bellamy his hat-trick.
Three minutes later, the marksman turned provider for Llewellyn, but Boyens was again to the fore - he and Sigmund were outstanding as a combination, particularly given only one of them had been capped prior to this match, and that a ten-minute cameo role against Oman in 2000.
Danny Hay? Steven Old? Yesterday's men, on this display, and when one considers that the All Whites have conceded twenty-three goals in the ten “A” internationals that pairing has comprised the central defensive combination ...
Seventeen of those goals came in four matches, including thirteen in the three played prior to this Welsh encounter, against Brazil, Chile and Venezuela. Then an untried and untested pairing comes along … All Whites' coach Ricki Herbert has a pleasant selection problem now. As far as this writer's concerned, it's a very easy one to resolve.
A couple of vital challenges by Evans on the edge of the area in the 87th minute thwarted both Oughton and the All Whites' star turn, Smeltz, as the visitors looked to snatch a famous victory. But given their inexperience, a 2-2 draw on the road against a team in the midst of a European Championships qualifying campaign is a result New Zealand Football should justifiably be proud of.
Wales: Coyne (Hennessey, 46); Gunter (booked, 23) (Evans, 46), Collins, Gabbidon, Ricketts; Davies (Crofts, 76), Fletcher (Ledley, 46), Robinson, Giggs (Llewellyn, 76); Bellamy, Earnshaw (Nardiello, 64)
New Zealand: Paston; Pritchett, Boyens (booked, 15), Sigmund, Lochhead; Christie (Barron, 58), Brown, Oughton, Bertos (Campbell, 60); James, Smeltz
Referee: Tommy Fkjerven (Norway)
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