OlyWhites v. Vanuatu, 22/1/04

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More Twists And Turns Than In A Fibre Optic Cable!!

by Jeremy Ruane

It was tense; it was titanic; it had all the ingredients you could wish for in a classic David versus Goliath battle, yet with more twists and turns than one would find in your average fibre-optic cable!!

The phone lines around Oceania would certainly have been running hot had Vanuatu managed to hold onto the two-goal advantage they commandeered inside the first twenty minutes of the January 22 encounter, which had, as its reward for the winners, a place in the final of Oceania’s Olympic Qualifying play-off.

A draw would have been suffice for Vanuatu to progress, as they headed New Zealand on goal difference going into this final round-robin affair. But it wasn’t to be for the plucky Pacific Island nation, the OlyWhites’ aerial prowess and more disciplined approach overcoming Vanuatu’s flair and joie de vivre to ultimately bring about a come-from-behind 3-2 victory for the host nation in a no-holds-barred thriller at North Harbour Stadium.

No-holds-barred is a most appropriate phrase to use, when one considers the influence of referee Simon Micallef and his team on this match. For it is fair to say the overall quality of the officiating in this tournament - with the exception of that shown by Micallef’s countryman, Australian referee Con Diomis - was of a generally poor standard, with much of what contributed to making it so exhibited in this encounter.

Foul throw-ins, tackles of a marginal-at-best nature, inconsistent application of the offside laws … these were three of the most frequent infringements throughout the tournament which, if they didn’t go unpunished, saw the offending player, for the most part, merely admonished by the referee, when the incident sometimes demanded a yellow card be flourished at the very least.

The aforementioned infringements were very much in evidence in this match, but one wonders if they would have been handled differently in, say, a league fixture. Players’ prime concern, once they cross the white line, is that the Laws of the Game are applied consistently from game to game by the officials, competition notwithstanding.

When they are not, there is an easy target towards whom criticism is directed. On this occasion, the group-deciding encounter in an Oceania tournament, with the Olympic football prospects of two nations depending on the outcome, the officiating merits that directed towards it.

Micallef’s consistency - if one could label awarding free-kicks but no cards for bookable offences as such - was to come back to haunt him as the game wore on, as the tackles became increasingly desperate. But of that, more later.

For despite the growing disquiet arising from the decision-making, there was a cracking football match taking place between two teams with different approaches, contrasting styles, the same ambition - to compete at the Athens Olympics in August.

The OlyWhites set out their stall early, Brent Fisher - who generally led the line well - scooping the ball over the bar from eight yards after just five minutes, following a Leo Bertos corner which found the head of captain Tony Lochhead.

Five minutes later, controversy reigned as the Kiwi team screamed at the referee in vain after Manley Junior Tabe had used his hand to aid his dispossessing Bertos near Vanuatu’s corner flag. While the OlyWhites protested, Dimitri Yakeula thundered down the left before releasing Jean Maleb through the middle.

Built like an old-fashioned centre-forward, but with pace and powerful running as standard, rather than optional extras, Maleb relished the chance to run at OlyWhites’ central defenders Lochhead and Andy Boyens. Neither welcomed the prospect, and it showed, as the striker outpaced the latter before out-muscling the former to force his way into the penalty area, from where he lashed home the opening goal high into the net from fifteen yards.

The 1200-strong crowd was stunned into near-silence at the sight of the OlyWhites trailing on the scoreboard. And after David Mulligan and Maleb had traded shots on goal, that silence became deafening in the twentieth minute, as Vanuatu doubled their advantage.

Maleb gathered the ball near the edge of the OlyWhites’ penalty area, and held up play expertly before fellow striker Lorry Thompsen arrived in support. A deft lay-off slipped the striker through New Zealand’s rearguard, and after rounding the cruelly exposed Glen Moss, Thompsen rolled the ball home.

New Zealand found itself on the precipice - the next goal, should it go Vanuatu’s way, would see the OlyWhites on course to suffer an embarrassing defeat on home turf against a country which had conquered it on the football fields just once before; in Sydney in 2002, at the U-16 Pacific Cup tournament.

Cue an OlyWhites’ riposte - at least, it should have been. For how James Pritchett failed to turn home a teasing Shane Smeltz cross after Vanuatu’s goalkeeper, Presley John Garae, had come off his line to flap in vain at it, only he will know, but the groans of the crowd reflected their increasing concerns.

These weren’t eased in the next four minutes, when Moss kept the OlyWhites in the match. The ‘keeper stopped a shot on the run from Maleb, after the striker had powered his way past three opponents on a run from half-way, while in the 28th minute, Maleb turned provider for Thompsen once more - this time, the ‘keeper’s fingertips prevented the striker from netting his second goal, before the ’keeper gave his defence an earful for their shortcomings!!

The OlyWhites scrambled the resulting corner to safety, Smeltz picking up the ball near the edge of his penalty. He ran and ran … and continued running until he’d powered his way to the edge of the Vanuatu penalty area, from where he let fly with a rising drive which beat Garae all ends up, but crashed against the crossbar. Was it not meant to be New Zealand’s night.

End-to-end action ensued, as both teams realised the significance of the next goal. Only the vital intervention of the retreating Rupesh Puna thwarted Maleb after he’d played a one-two with Thompson, with the resulting clearance finding the charging Mulligan clearly in an offside

position. He cut in from the right and lobbed Garae, only to see the ball land on the roof of the net.

Cue another Vanuatu charge, Moss requiring two attempts to save a thirty-yard piledriver from Fedy Vava. But as half-time approached, it looked like something drastic would happen to have the OlyWhites in serious contention come the half-time whistle.

Something did - a headed goal from Lochhead, two minutes before the break. Mulligan’s free-kick from near the right corner flag picked out the curly-mopped stand-in captain, whose bullet-like headed finish provided his team with the lifeline they so badly needed, and at such a crucial time.

The break allowed Ricki Herbert and Brian Turner, the OlyWhites’ coaching staff, the opportunity to enforce the belief which that goal had given their charges. It certainly had the desired effect, though not before Thompsen had dispossessed the generally soundly performed Steven Turner and released Rick Mahe for a shooting chance which Moss battered to safety.

The OlyWhites drew level in the 52nd minute, and what a goal! Pritchett’s beavering on the right wind paid dividends, as the winger engineered some space in which to fire over a sumptuous cross - the sort which make a goalkeeper’s job extremely difficult, but one which strikers make the most of more often than not.

Smeltz duly obliged - an absolute peach of an angled looping header which arced over Garae en route to the target. 2-2, and all to play for.

On the hour, Pita Maki and Mahe combined to release Thompsen on the left, as Vanuatu sought to regain their attacking momentum. The striker chipped wide of the target behind the advancing Moss - how crucial that miss was to prove was revealed with the OlyWhites’ next attack, three minutes later.

Mulligan motored down the left before looking up to find Fisher in yards of space near the edge of Vanuatu’s penalty area. A measured, superbly weighted cross found its way onto the head of the still-untended Fisher, who gleefully steered his header wide of the stranded Garae and into the net to give New Zealand the advantage for the first time in the match - 3-2, after 63 minutes.

Seven minutes later, another free header, this time from Andy Boyens on receipt of a Mulligan free-kick, was grabbed by Garae, as the Kiwi combination began to make their aerial superiority count, and the tackles began to fly in with increasing desperation from both sides.

Time was running out for Vanuatu, though, despite the fact that a draw would allow them to progress at the OlyWhites’ expense. In an attempt to secure it, they launched a dramatic final onslaught, one in which Moss figured prominently.

The goalkeeper stood firm under the challenge of a string of corners from Roger Joe, before producing quite possibly the save of his career to date - certainly that’s the case with regard to his most crucial stops in a New Zealand shirt.

Substitute Waren Waiwai and the omnipresent Maleb both saw efforts blocked three minutes from time, the second of which rebounded to Thompsen. He unleashed a beauty, struck hard, low and with swerve aplenty, which arrowed towards the "postage stamp" spot at the foot of Moss’ left-hand upright. The goalkeeper couldn’t have seen it until late, but he somehow got across and down to turn the shot to safety. Had that gone in …

With time all but up on the clock, Vanuatu mounted a desperate raid, Thompsen - who, with Maleb, a superb tournament - leading the charge. A through ball found Maleb in the OlyWhites’ penalty area, and he held off Lochhead’s challenge before thrashing the ball past the advancing Moss and into the net.

As he turned to celebrate, however, referee Micallef was blowing his whistle to disallow the ninetieth minute strike for an offside flag against the scorer. Vanuatu simply couldn’t believe it!! Ever-animated coach Juan Carlos Buzzetti was incandescent with rage, and made his anger known to the officials both before and after the final whistle.

By which time Vanuatu had been reduced to ten men, and very nearly nine, as the referee finally saw fit to introduce his coloured cards to the game - far too late, as it happened, for the likelihood of these outbursts of indiscipline occurring, had he taken sterner action when admonishing such offences earlier in the game, would have been greatly reduced.

Instead, Geoffrey Lego Gete received his marching orders for an uncompromising tackle from behind on Michael Wilson, who, soon after, literally found himself being kicked on the rump by Maleb, in the striker’s sheer desperation to regain possession.

This offence only earned a yellow card - the crowd made it plain to Mr Micallef what they thought of his knowledge of the Laws of the Game in relation to serious foul play, both now and as he and his team - complete with security staff - headed down the tunnel soon after the final whistle, Buzzetti and his charges having made a bee-line for the official upon his sounding it.

Its blasting meant the OlyWhites were through to a two-legged play-off with old rivals Australia - the OlyRoos - next week, for a place in the August sun in Athens. They did it the hard way, coming from behind then holding out opponents who gave the Kiwi combination a serious run for their money, and who, following their displays in this tournament, should no longer be considered another of the "easy-beats" in the Oceania region.

Unlike some of their fellow Pacific Island nations’ performances in this tournament, those of Vanuatu merit respect. They set New Zealand a strong challenge on this occasion, one which brought out the best in the OlyWhites’ combination - anything less would have proven disastrous for the host nation, and eventual group winners, for whom Australia awaits.

OlyWhites: Moss; Puna, Boyens, Lochhead, Wilson; Bertos (Brown, 64), Turner (booked, 39), Mulligan; Pritchett, Fisher, Smeltz (Pearce, 76)

Vanuatu: Garae; Alick (booked, 90), Maki, Silas (Qorig, 19 (Waiwai, 82)); Gete (sent-off, 90), Tabe, Vava (Joe, 73), Mahe, Yakeula; Thompsen, Maleb (booked, 90)

Referee: Simon Micallef (Australia)

OlyWhites