By Ben Somerford
June 24th 2009 @ 12:47am
Loading ...Let the All Whites enjoy their moment in the fun
The All Whites have been on the wrong end of some stinging criticism after overzealously celebrating the 0-0 draw with Iraq at the Confederations Cup in South Africa.
When the final whistle went against Iraq on Sunday, it was as if the All Whites had qualified for the next phase of the tournament. But instead they hadn’t even won a match, nor even scored a goal, and in fact, had just finished last in their group.
But what they had done, was create New Zealand football history by claiming a point in the Confederations Cup for the first time after fruitless campaigns in 1999 and 2003.
It actually ended an eight-game losing streak in the continental tournament too.
And considering New Zealand’s underdog status coming into the Confederatons Cup and the criticism the All Whites had received following emphatic losses to Spain and South Africa earlier in the tournament, it was a moment to rejoice for the players and coaches alike.
So there’s no denying that achievement for the modest New Zealanders.
But where the latest criticism of the All Whites has been aimed at is that their celebrations suggest they believe the tournament was a success when in fact their performances in the losses against the Spanish and the South Africans were woeful.
SBS commentator Craig Foster claimed he thought the 0-0 draw meant the New Zealanders would ‘gloss’ over their failures in the tournament ahead of their difficult World Cup qualifying intercontinental playoff later in the year against either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia.
But the All Whites should be ‘cut a little slack’ and be allowed to enjoy their moment in the sun.
As All Whites coach Ricki Herbert put it, “I think tonight was another milestone for the country. We proved a few doubters wrong with the way we played.”
Indeed, it is an easy assessment to scoff at New Zealand’s ‘breakthrough’ when you compare it to the recent exponential success of the Socceroos.
And in some ways it is fair, considering both nations were in similar circumstances a decade or so ago when we were battling it out in Oceania.
But while Australia, with more talent and resources at it’s disposal, has been able to kick on and achieve a number of ‘breakthroughs’, New Zealand hasn’t.
But that’s no fault of the eleven or so players on the pitch who faced Iraq on Sunday night and that’s why the attack from the critics is ill-directed.
On paper, and upon considering recent form, those All Whites players would have known they were up against it when they lined up to play Iraq but they battled hard and created history.
While claiming a scoreless draw against Iraq, a team ranked 77th in the world, shouldn’t be viewed as the world’s greatest achievement, the fact that the All Whites were able to end their own Confederations Cup drought should be viewed as the breakthrough.
Now though, the focus should be on achieving the next milestone, World Cup qualification.
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(15)
Cpaaa said | June 24th 2009 @ 7:50am | Report comment
the black sheep of world football. Watching that match i couldnt help but pray for a kiwi victory, i dont know why? yet i was frustrated at their style of play.
No wins ever in the confederation cup
Always Last
Defensive clean sheet in the last game, awarded first point.
Pop the champers bro, we did it!
got love our kiwi neighbors.
? but whats with the All Whites. They look so much better in All Black.
Instead of dressing like middle eastern countries NZ should be looking to emulate their kiwi brothers.
Name change… “All Blacks Football” sounds so much better than All Whites, which sounds like a cult from Missisippi.
Brian Munich said | June 24th 2009 @ 8:42am | Report comment
They’ve been All Whites for about 30 years, Cpaaa, so I don’t think they’re about to change now. And in any case, they share the unfortunate Aussie tradition of wanting to allocate a different epithet to each of their national teams – so it’s “Tall Blacks” for the basketballers, “Silver Ferns” for the netballers and so on.
Ben, to suggest “both nations were in similar circumstances a decade or so ago” is stretching it a bit. The Kiwis were at their strongest relative to us in the 80s, but apart from that embarrassing loss when we fielded a 4th XI a few years back, NZ has not really been in the same league at national team level since the early 90s.
Cpaaa said | June 24th 2009 @ 9:03am | Report comment
Brian i dont think its ever too late for change, All Blacks will always be the jewel of the nation so unlike Basketball and Netball
the All Whites choose to wear..all white. In international football i cant think of any nation that wear all black as their home strip.
All Blacks Football will be more on par with NZ colours and in the same brand as the All Blacks, instead of trying to be different in their home country. Thats the part i dont understand.
Brian said | June 24th 2009 @ 9:23am | Report comment
Let them celebrate. After all we played Iraq three time at nuetral venues, 2004 Olympics, 2007 Asian Cup and 2008 in a WCQ and we lost all three. At least they got a draw.
dasilva said | June 24th 2009 @ 10:01am | Report comment
I was supporting Iraq as they are from the AFC and their performance didn’t exactly gave the Asian Confederation and hence us a good name. I wonder what the hell happen to them.
I get the feeling that maybe Iraq aren’t a great team as shown by their results against Qatar and New Zealand and it’s a shock to see Iraq struggle against other sides and then see them outplay Australia. Perhaps they are only a great team playing against Australia as Australia are probably there main rivals in Asia (along with Iran and Kuwait) due to the politics involve (I believe everytime they play Australia they get pumped up and are very determine to beat us).
I would have loved to see Iraq being in the same group as USA and could conceivingly see Iraqi giving the USA the same shock as they gave us.
Pippinu said | June 24th 2009 @ 10:58am | Report comment
Recalling our recent losses to Iraq (3-1 in the Asian Cup, and from memory, 2-1 at the Olympics), let the NZers enjoy their breakthrough point.
Does anyone doubt that the Socceroos of 1974 didn’t enjoy their first point in WC history from a final group game nil-all draw agaisnt Chile, despite still finishing bottom and not scroing a goal??
Captain Random said | June 24th 2009 @ 11:00am | Report comment
The fact that Iraq could outplay Australia with their eyes closed (but as we saw in Brisbane, that doesn’t always translate into victory) but can’t beat New Zealand or Qatar suggests that they can’t find the kind of motivation necessary to perform at the top level in every game. I wonder how much of their success was down to Jorvan Vieira.
GeneralAshnak said | June 24th 2009 @ 1:36pm | Report comment
NZ football needs to convince Maoris to start playing the game. Would love to see a NZ football team perform a Hakka before a match!
Mr said | June 24th 2009 @ 1:39pm | Report comment
I’m not sure FIFA would allow a Hakka inside the stadium…
GeneralAshnak said | June 24th 2009 @ 1:40pm | Report comment
Actually just relised I said nothing about the article! NZ deserved their celebration. This was a first for them. By breaking their duck it lets them know they can achieve, knowledge of that achievement will allow them to reach for the next goal. The mental battle is half the fight, look at us in the 2006 WC! We looked to be going the same way as last time, no goals and an early exit. Then along came Cahill and snatched a goal – then bam! bam! We were up 3-1 and not only had we scored our first WC goal but won our first WC match! The belief that win would have instilled in the Socceroos cannot be doubted, without it I seriously doubt we would have done anywhere near as well as we did.
Dublin Dave said | June 24th 2009 @ 4:13pm | Report comment
GeneralAshnak
Mr is right. There is no way FIFA would allow a participating team to indulge in such a show of provocation before a soccer match.
That sort of stuff is for the fans.
westy said | June 24th 2009 @ 11:30pm | Report comment
Dasilva I would always have to support the Kiwis against anyone except Australia. I am glad we are in Asian Federation but that does not mean we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. The ties that bind to the Kiwis are more than cultural. i cannot forget that connection. Well done to the All Whites.
Midfielder said | June 24th 2009 @ 11:50pm | Report comment
Ben
A line in your article just makes me laugh … if you read NZ papers and read their bloggs they are very aware of their lack of technical skill … along with other problems they have in football like funding / media/ RU dominance of NZ…
Just take my word for it they are cruelty aware of their shortcomings … thus the reason for the reaction after the draw..
What made me split my pants with laughter was Fozza in deep and series voice … get grave concern on face and say … listen to it … like no one knows … and this is a huge announcement of a hitherto to unknown fact …. “”" SBS commentator Craig Foster claimed he thought the 0-0 draw meant the New Zealanders would ‘gloss’ over their failures in the tournament ahead of their difficult World Cup qualifying intercontinental playoff later in the year against either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia.”"”"
At least the TerrOR are up front and can change the story line every now and then …
dasilva said | June 25th 2009 @ 4:04am | Report comment
Midfielder
I think you misunderstood the point that Craig Foster was making. I think the point was that not that people in NEw Zealand didn’t know that they are lacking in technical skill. What Craig Foster point was that it would be better if they sacked Herbert and appoint a foreign coach and that would only happen if New Zealand get flogged by Iraq. That they have a better chance of qualifying with another coach and this draw with Iraq will keep Herbert at the job to the detriment of New Zealand Football.
However I’m not too sure whether this interpretation of his comments is any better or reflects Foster in a positive light.
It was very harsh
Cpaaa said | June 25th 2009 @ 10:29am | Report comment
NZ having 7 wellington players in its squad and coached by herbert youd think the team would have a better understanding of one another. Yet the performances i saw looked as if they were put together over a weekend camp. I like Herbert but 7international kiwis and to finish 6 from 8 in the HAL last year, asks the question
1) is NZ players really that bad? and
2) the coaching ability of Ricki Herbert?
20 years coaching experience dont mean much if its only ever been in NZ.