Junior All Whites go down swinging
Their run is over but the Junior All Whites gave Portugal an almighty scare as they exited the Fifa U-20 World Cup in Hamilton on Thursday night.
Substitute Stuart Holthusen scored a 64th minute equaliser to stun Portugal at Waikato Stadium but the European giants eventually found the winner to beat New Zealand 2-1.
Coach Darren Bazeley sent the team out in a 5-2-1-2 formation, with Bill Tuiloma, Sam Brotherton and Cory Brown playing as three central defenders.
Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi and Moses Dyer were tasked with sweeping in front of the back five with Monty Patterson feeding Alex Rufer and Noah Billingsley up front.
For 10 minutes the formation had Portugal guessing but they soon figured it out thanks to the efforts of Manchester City’s Rony Lopes and Sporting CP’s Gelson Martins.
The two attacking midfielders were causing problems when they ran at the Kiwi defence and picked the right times to release their team-mates behind the back line.
Tuiloma was on hand to repel one foray into the box in the 14th minute, but chances were coming thick and fast for the Europeans.
Lopes fired narrowly wide when he should have found the target 22 minutes in, but moments later Raphael Guzzo gave his side a well deserved lead.
Receiving the ball on the edge of the box, Guzzo turned past Dyer before firing a right-footed effort low into the far corner.
The Junior All Whites showed more intent to attack after the setback, although they continued to allow far too much time and space to Martins and Lopes in the final third.
When they did push up field, Patterson looked a genuine threat, although with too few options in attack he could create little. Billingsley did have a golden chance to fire on goal late in the half, only to slip as he went to hit a volley.
New Zealand’s wing backs, Deklan Wynne and Andrew Blake, pressed up the field further in the second half as they searched for an equaliser.
Stuart Holthusen was introduced in place of Rufer soon after the hour mark, and he had the crowd rocking with his first touch.
After a scrappy collision on the edge of the box between Patterson and Joao Nunes, Holthusen found the ball at his feet, firing over a diving Andre Moreira to score the equaliser.
Holthusen went close with another strike five minutes later, firing his shot into the advertising hoardings.
For the next 15 minutes New Zealand had new-found confidence in possession of the ball, stringing sets of passes together as they pushed up field.
Portugal were showing more urgency with the ball, Lopes in particular getting the ball at his feet and running straight at New Zealand’s centrebacks.
With four minutes remaining it was winger Martins who stepped up, producing a sublime finish to hand his side the lead for good.
Dummying to get past one defender, Martins unleashed his shot from the edge of the area, curling the ball with the outside of his foot into the far corner.
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