All Whites reminded of ‘need to be more clinical’
Wins against teams from outside Oceania don’t come around often for the All Whites.
After beating Curacao 2-1 yesterday, they now have a total of nine in the past 15 years.
But they were left with plenty to ponder after allowing their opponents to come back into the contest when they could have been out of sight.
A free kick from Bill Tuiloma which took a deflection and a fierce finish from Chris Wood following a turnover high up the pitch gave the All Whites a 2-0 lead at halftime at Bahrain National Stadium.
But they didn’t take the chances that were there to extend it further and after Rangelo Janga capitalised on a defensive error with 20 minutes to play, they finished the game mostly on the back foot, seeking to prevent an equaliser.
They did just that, with Stefan Marinovic making a vital save following a quick free kick, and were ultimately able to celebrate at the end of a mostly promising outing.
All Whites coach Danny Hay was pleased to have secured his first win in his third match in charge of the senior national team, which was also its first in almost 700 days, when she spoke via Zoom from the car park afterwards.
He was pleased with how they had pressed and won the ball in dangerous areas, an approach that was aided by Curacao’s insistence on playing out when they weren’t
equipped to do so under pressure.
And while he lamented the fact they ‘‘didn’t kill the game off’’ and ended up having to grind out a result defensively in the end, he thought it would be valuable lesson for his young team.
‘‘If you look at the chances we had in the first half and early in the second, there were some really good opportunities, and we could
have won three or four-nil comfortably. But again it’s a very good learning for a very young group that we need to be more clinical in those periods, or you allow teams to get back into the game.’’
Seven of the All Whites’ starters were aged 22 or younger, including teenage debutants Matt Garbett and Marko Stamenic, who were able to display their technical ability in a match Hay described as ‘‘robust’’.
Right backs Niko Kirwan and Kelvin Kalua were the other All Whites debutants, in a position
where the country’s established options were unavailable due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.
Kirwan was at fault for Curacao’s goal after mistiming a free header in his own box, but while Hay acknowledged it was a ‘‘frustrating’’ way to concede, he wasn’t going to let it take away from the rest of his maiden outing.
‘‘For such a long period, Niko was excellent,’’ Hay said.
The All Whites now have two days to prepare for their second match of the October window, when they will face Bahrain [kickoff 5am Wednesday NZ time).