Roughly 24 hours before I watched this game on the idiotbox I bought the ticket for the return leg in Sydney. Sometimes I'm glad this is a soccer backwater, not only are tickets cheap ($20) but I don't have to listen to everyones opinion on the games the way I have to for every Rugby League or AFL game that is mildly important.
The match was played at the new North Harbour Stadium and had borne witness to a pair of resounding humiliations for the Argentine Rugby Union team, the Pumas. In an effort to lessen the effects of those games the pitch had been rolled heavily with liberal doses of sand. As a result footing was very loose underfoot and bounce was unpredictable. The Kiwis had intoned that they were now tending to a passing/posession game rather than their traditional longball/big-guys tactic, the pitch would therefore have been disappointing for them too.
The match was billed as the Princes v the Paupers with Australia's team made up of well paid professionals and the Kiwis weren't even getting paid for these games aside from having their expenses covered. Infact one of the Kiwis, I cannot recall who, is a policeman who was late for training because he was chasing down an offender and managed to apprehend him with a crash tackle. There were only two things which could save New Zealand from defeat. The overwhelming spirit the New Zealanders posess when faced with Australian opponents on the sporting field was one and Wynton Rufer the other.
In the end the spirit only ever got going toward the end of the game when New Zealand were 3-0 down and playing with 10 and despite some brilliant moments from the man Wynton was relatively quiet. At well over 30 (34?) it was asking a bit much for him to carry the team against Australia, still he remains their biggest threat in the return match.
The game started tentatively enough, New Zealand managing some early and wildly ambitious shots at goal which did not call Bosnich into action and Australia looking to settle into some sort of rhythm. The Enzedders were pretty tough, though fair, in their tackles. Until at least the 10th minute and it was then that Stan Lazaridis received a gash above his ankle which he was treated for off the pitch for about 5 minutes.
Just when New Zealand looked like they would manage to thwart Australia for long enough to make it tough going Ricki van Steeden was guilty of letting a high ball bounce in defence and John Aloisi and Craig Foster ran through John winning the ball, Foster taking it wide and with Batty looking to close him down Foster squared the ball to Aloisi who had little trouble in tucking away the opening goal.
Within 3 minutes Australia could have scored twice more, first Graham Arnold was challenged just as the ball reached him and then John Aloisi, having only the keeper to beat, scuffed his shot and it was gratefully scooped up by Jason Batty. New Zealand, despite suffering in the balance of play, occasionally reminded Australia that they were still around. Coveny looking to pick out a fairly open RUfer from a cross after 20-odd minutes and example of how complacency gives others a chance to bite you on the arse.
For New Zealand the evergreen Rufer up front and the young but promising Ivan Vicelich at the back stood out the most. Jason Batty too proved to be a keeper of some worth managing to palm a shot from Robbie Slater around the post after Robbie had taken it upon himself to go on a weaving run. Australia too had 3 corners in quick succession towards the end of the half but failed to be productive on any of them, only one even posing any threat at all. After 38 minutes one free kick to New Zealand was taken by Rufer and Bosnich stood rooted to the center of the goalline as the ball cleared the wall and only just swerved wide of the post. Perhaps a metre and a half the other way and Bosnich would be picking the ball out of the net. The Australian goal was not to be breached on this day though.
Just to underline the point just before the halftime whistle went Craig Moore lifted the ball over the Kiwi defence finding Foster wide whose cross was poorly cleared. The ball fell to Aurelio Vidmar who was in the sector (in the mathematical sense) adjoining the penalty box and let loose with a drive beyond the reach of Batty to score Australia's second.
Apparently Mark Bosnich stayed on the pitch at halftime to train with Ron Corry. Bozza clearly wanted to rub some Kiwi's noses into the fact that they had given him no real work.
The second half was less emphatic by Australia. A Slater cross was too high for Arnold to keep down with a header and then at the 56th minute Gaham Arnold managed to get himself booked. He really had a miserable day of it. Just after that the Kiwis created a nice movement involving Hay, McGarry and Coveny but the final shot by Coveny was much too high, odd then that McGarry (the captain) was replaced just afterwards.
After 65 minutes Chris Jackson, perhaps out of frustration at being badly outplayed hacked down Craig Foster to get the first Kiwi into the referees book. Next came a centreing ball from Lazaridis on the right which was dummied by Arnold and left Foster just outside the area with acres of space and ooldes of time. Foster tried to chip the keeper, played his shoot too low which allowed Batty to get his fingers to it but the ball trickled over the line shepherded by Arnold just incase it needed a final touch. One is tempted to say a "real" forward would have belted it into the net anyway but it's too easy to kick a man when he's down.
Speaking of kicking a man, that Jackson lad tried the same trick on Ned Zelic, with the same result, another yellow card. Having completed the set he was sent off and for the remainder of the game everytime Ned Zelic touched the ball he was booed. It was obviously Ned's fault that Jackson can't tackle properly and was sent off for his trouble.
Rufer had another free kick sail over the bar and from the restart of play Bosnich was carded for time-wasting. An unusual decision and not really justified since half that time Bosnich was waiting to get the ball back. Aurelio Vidmar too was carded for a tackle on the impressive Vicelich without whom New Zealand would doubtlessly not have done as well. A case in point the 79th minute in which Arnold and Aloisi combined to set up a good chance for Aloisi which was blocked n the last second by Vicelich.
Graham Arnold missed another 2 chances, missing one shot and having another blocked. At the other end Rufer tried to weave his bit of magic again putting a beautiful pass through the Aussie defence for Coveny to run onto. Coveny's shot went narrowly wide as Bosnich came out to try smothering the shot and Moore hared back to intercept. Bosnich ended up crashing into Moore's ribs which led the latter to be replaced with a trip to hospital instore to determine if anything was broken. There's a bit of the banazi in Bosnich, most of you will recall his job on Klinsmann...one wonders if (given he appears in the World Cup) he will 'do a Toni Schuhmacher'.
Just to round out the match Aloisi, having a header put on a plate to him by Lazaridis, missed from in front for another bad miss in a game Australia could, and should, have won by 5. That said there are still 3 matches to go before any thoughts of World Cup glory are possbile and there is still much that needs to be improved to justify a finals appearance.