Dyer the unlikely hero as All Whites down India
All Whites coach Fritz Schmid has hailed the maturity of his inexperienced team after it fought back from an early mistake to beat India 2-1 in Mumbai yesterday.
Although Sarpreet Singh played a starring role by delivering two assists in another man of the match performance, it was the muchmaligned Moses Dyer who was the unlikely saviour for the All Whites, coming off the bench to score his first international goal with just five minutes left to play.
That goal proved to be an important one as the result elevated the All Whites to six points alongside Intercontinental Cup hosts India, although they could be denied a rematch if Kenya beat Chinese Taipei by three goals overnight.
‘‘It was a very mature performance,’’ said Schmid, who now faces a nervous wait to see if his team has done enough to reach the final.
‘‘We have been classified as the youngest team in the history of New Zealand Football and coming out of that we were classified as an understrength team bound for disappointment.
‘‘But now looking back on the three games and what the boys have achieved, they have proven they deserve to be here.’’
Despite being the dominant team for the entire 90 minutes – they had 60 per cent possession and outshot the opposition 21-10 – the All Whites were forced to play catchup after a mixup between two teenagers gifted India captain Sunil Chhetri the opening goal of the game.
Michael Woud, the third different goalkeeper used by Schmid in as many games, was unable to clear an errant back pass from left-back Liberato Cacace and the ball ricocheted off Chhetri’s body into the back of the net.
But to their credit the inexperienced All Whites – who went into this tournament missing 17 firstchoice players – struck back immediately when Andre de Jong was played through by Singh.
The Wellington Phoenix rising star then put a second goal on a plate for one of his team-mates when he again split the defence with a superb pass in the 85th minute, and Manukau United midfielder Dyer provided the finishing touch – much to the delight of his team-mates.
‘‘It’s a very good feeling,’’ Dyer said after scoring the matchwinner. ‘‘Obviously not playing in the last two games I was pretty gutted so I knew I had to prove a point and show what I could do, which was score a goal in the moment.’’
Australia 18