All Whites better but beaten on penalties

Forty-five minutes of New Zealand’s best men’s football in some time were not enough to end their goal hoodoo in Cairo. The All Whites were beaten 4-2 on penalties by Fifa’s 41st-ranked nation, Tunisia, when the match ended goalless after 90 minutes, despite having a number of first-half chances and a missed penalty.

Much like the previous match against Egypt, the New Zealand side showed that they can compete with teams placed far above them in the rankings.

Also like the Egypt match, they failed to convert dominance in passages and ended up rueing missed opportunities.

A saved penalty struck by Sarpreet Singh and another fine save by the Tunisian keeper kept the Africans in it and ended up being the difference as the All Whites again couldn’t capitalise on periods in control.

The All Whites started stronger and had the ball in the back of the net after eight and a half minutes. Captain Liberato Cacace’s long range effort stung the gloves of Tunisian goalkeeper Ben Said and was then collected by Michael Boxall, who laid off for striker Kosta Barbarouses to tap home. Barbarouses was adjudged offside and the deadlock remained.

Another eight minutes passed and New Zealand would have put the ball in again if not for a heroic save from Ben Said. Callum McCowatt’s corner whistled in and was met by Tommy Smith’s head. The ball looked destined for the top corner until Said palmed it into the crossbar and it was cleared to safety.

On the stroke of 30 minutes, Matthew Garbett slid a ball to Barbarouses on the right hand side of the penalty area. The forward went to cut back inside and was caught by a trailing leg from a Tunisian defender.

The referee waved play on initially, but VAR intervened and replays showed it was a clear penalty.

Up stepped Singh to take, looking for just his second senior international goal. His shot was well struck but Ben Said guessed correctly and got a strong hand to deflect the ball away.

The Carthage Eagles started far better in the second 45 minutes, much more clinical in their passing and with urgency to each 50/50 ball.

The All Whites, by comparison, seemed to be feeling the effects of their frantic first half as the game began to open up with more end-to-end play than had been seen in the first stanza.

Still, Garbett had another clear chance, only to see a tame shot saved.

As the minutes ticked into stoppage time, Tunisia made the bold call to substitute goalkeeper Ben Said and replace him with a fresh set of gloves in Dahmen ahead of the impending penalty shootout.

In the end, who was in net for Tunisia mattered little as New Zealand substitutes Ben Waine and Elijah Just pushed penalties wide while the Africans scored all four — winning 4-2 to take the bronze medal.