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Slovenia
Blunders Assist Slovenia In Win Over All Whites
by Jeremy Ruane
A couple of glaring errors helped Slovenia score a 3-1 win over the All Whites in front of 10,965 fans at the Stadion Ljudski in Maribor on June 4, in the final official match for both countries before commencing their respective campaigns at the FIFA World Cup Finals in South Africa.
The home team began like the proverbial house on fire, neat build-up play inside the first thirty seconds culminating in a Valter Birsa cross from the right which zoomed across the goalmouth, just too far in front of the incoming Andraz Kirm to capitalise upon.
Five minutes later, All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen commandingly won an aerial duel with Zlatan Ljubijankic, who went down as if shot. The referee was suitably convinced by the striker’s antics, and awarded Slovenia a free-kick twenty-seven yards from New Zealand’s goal, right in front.
Ljubijankic recovered swiftly on this occasion, although he was to depart the fray soon after upon coming off second-best in an aerial duel with Mark Paston - this meet-and-greet with the playing surface was far more genuine!
As was the strike which gave Slovenia the lead, a gem of a free-kick from Milivoje Novakovic which arced over the wall and beyond the diving Paston into the right-hand corner of his net - 1-0, with just six minutes on the clock.
The All Whites came right back at their European opponents, and for the next twenty minutes proceeded to dominate the game, displaying confidence on the ball, measured passing and a willingness to attack, while at the same time containing Slovenia’s advances comfortably - there was plenty to like about the visitors’ play.
And they capped it off with a deserved goal. Chris Wood twice went close inside six minutes, firstly with a snatched effort from twenty yards then with a diving header which directed the ball over the bar after Leo Bertos had evaded a challenge before delivering an inviting cross from the right.
The equaliser was worth the wait, however, and came on the twenty minute mark. Jeremy Christie’s angled ball forward from half-way sought out Wood, who beat Miso Brecko in the air to head the sphere down for Rory Fallon.
His first-time volley on the turn was designed to keep the ball down, and it hit the turf before bouncing past the diving figure of Samir Handanovic, who got his fingertips to the shot, but not enough to divert it from its intended destination, the far corner of the net.
1-1, and New Zealand were very good value for it. But their spell of dominance came to a shuddering halt in the 29th minute thanks to an appalling decision by the referee, who was unquestionably conned into giving a free-kick just outside the All Whites’ penalty area by Novakovic’s blatant dive.
Winston Reid wasn’t within touching distance of the set-piece specialist when the free-kick was awarded, and his disbelief when the official brandished the yellow card in the defender’s face for his protests spoke volumes.
You hope that, when instances such as this occur, the perpetrator fails to prosper from his ill-gotten gains. Sadly, justice was ill-served on this occasion, as Novakovic curled a low free-kick round the wall and into the bottom left-hand corner of Paston’s net.
It was a cruel blow for the All Whites, and one from which they initially struggled to recover. Paston was forced to smother a shot on the turn from substitute Zlatko Dedic soon after, then needed two attempts to cope with a cross-shot from Birsa after some delightful build-up play down the right featuring Marko Suler, Robert Koren, Novakovic and Brecko.
The visiting goalkeeper’s long clearance in the 37th minute revived All Whites’ hopes of a second equaliser, however, with Wood - he had seen Handanovic comfortably deal with his twenty-yarder moments earlier - heading the ball down into Shane Smeltz’s stride. The striker’s twenty-five yarder was tipped round the post at full stretch by
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Handanovic.
The officials failed to award a corner after that save, but had no choice two minutes later after the ‘keeper produced the save of the match. Simon Elliott curled in a free-kick from the right which Nelsen flicked on beyond the defence.
In ghosted Wood, who deftly adjusted his body to get over the bouncing ball and volley it low towards the target, the sphere striking the surface before rearing up and threatening to bounce in over the falling figure of Handanovic. The ‘keeper thrust up his right arm to fingertip the ball over the bar - a fantastic save.
How it contrasted with the attempt made by Paston on the stroke of half-time. Birsa whipped in an innocuous-looking cross from the right in the 44th minute, one with which the ‘keeper should have endured few problems. Unfortunately for the All Whites, Paston spilled the sphere, straight at the feet of the incoming Kirm … 3-1 to Slovenia, on the stroke of the half-time whistle.
The second half began in farcical fashion, with the officials getting rather shirty about the All Whites’ attire. Substitute Jeremy Brockie wasn’t listed on the teamsheet, seemingly, so had to don Aaron Clapham’s shirt in order to enter the fray.
Meanwhile, Nelsen had returned to the pitch sporting a numberless shirt, having changed it due to blood on his number six jersey. He, too, was forced to change his top ... you wouldn’t think this was a friendly international, given the match officials’ zealous attitude towards what were truly trivial issues.
That said, their approach was far more professional than that employed by the All Whites’ team manager in the circumstances. Both events simply would not have been allowed to happen had the best candidate for the job, Arthur Egan, been appointed to the post, rather than the rumoured "mate’s rates" option.
The second half died a death after 65 minutes, with both teams offering little in the way of attacking intent after this time, content instead to run down the clock while avoiding injuries - understandable, with the World Cup Finals so near at hand.
In the twenty minutes prior, however, there were a few close calls, with Paston tipping a 48th minute twenty-five yarder from Dedic round the post, then scrambling to ensure a deflected shot from the same player missed the target eight minutes later.
The resulting corner saw the All Whites’ ‘keeper tipping a rasping drive from Birsa over the bar, before he produced a vital block at the feet of Novakovic on the hour after the goalscorer worked an opening with Dedic, following the initial in-roads made down the right by Birsa and overlapping fullback Brecko.
New Zealand, too, enjoyed opportunities to reduce the half-time deficit during this period, most notably in the 51st minute. Smeltz was unable to capitalise after Brockie and Fallon had combined to invite Bertos the chance to engineer some space from which to deliver a cross to the near post.
Both Tommy Smith and Reid went close with headed opportunities provided by the set-piece prowess of Elliott, before Slovenia squandered the last genuine chance of the match twenty-five minutes from time, substitute Nejc Pecnik dragging his shot wide of the target after working a one-two with Dedic.
So to South Africa for both teams, and while the Slovenians will be buoyant after this hard-earned win, the All Whites have shown more than enough in their three build-up matches to emphasise that they certainly won’t be bit-part players at the World Cup Finals - they will cause Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay problems, make no mistake.
Slovenia: Handanovic; Brecko (Ilic, 76), Suler, Cesar, Jokic; Birsa (Komac, 79), Kirm (Matavz, 84), Radosavljevic (Krhin, 78), Koren; Ljubijankic (Dedic, 12), Novakovic (Pecnik, 61)
All Whites: Paston; Reid (booked, 29), Nelsen, Smith; Bertos, Elliott, Christie, Lochhead; Smeltz, Fallon, Wood (Brockie, 46)
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