Lol. No Reid = no Tuiloma = #alignment.
Pre tournament fixtures
Game against Qatar just got underway
linky link??
Panama v Uzbekistan is at Endeavour Park, Whitby on Sunday May 24th at 2:30pm
Endeavour and Porirua Park being used as training bases by Group B teams Argentina, Austria, Ghana & Panama
NZvQatar HT 0-1
@NZ_Football: GOAL 48 mins l Qatar go 2-0 up through Afit Akram turning home from close range #MensU20s
@NZ_Football: 90 mins l Into three minutes of stoppage time at Waikato Stadium as Qatar lead the NZ #MensU20s 2-0
@NZ_Football: FULLTIME l The NZ #MensU20s fall 2-0 to Qatar in their final match of the Five Nations Series at Waikato Stadium
NZ lose 0-2 vs Qatar. NZ players very big and tall, but chasing shadows half the time vs the quick, nimble, athletic Qatari team. NZ just lumping it forward route one for the first half, pretty awful to be honest, second half played a lot better but still Qatar kept us in check fairly comfortably...qatar always a real threat on the break, they just super quick and skilful, a really good team to watch. Qatar also won the long penalty shootouts 9-8. Oh and also Ghana beat NZ XI (Hamilton Wanderers) 8-0 at St Peters, Panama beat Australia 7-1 whoa!
Agree with D-Sidi the first half was pretty much lets lump it forward aimlessly and dry to out muscle them off the ball. It was pretty dour to be fair with most of the balls over hit. We also played with no width at all. Patterson, who looked out most threatning player kept coming inside to look for the ball.
I can't remember seeing us play a switch once that half. I'm not sure if this is because Mitchell was playing LB and getting forward and providing a wide outlet all that natural for him.
Rufer has a nice touch, but the ball never hit his feet.... if we were going to play that way we should have started Baker.
Second half we played a lot better and looked to play it on the ground. Qatar's goal was off a mistake and a quick counter. It was finished by their #7. Quality player and super super quick.
Some player summaries... of those I know.
Wynne, strong but not much of an attacking threat, limited passing range and often waited to long to release the ball when making the pass. Did make some nice crosses towards the end.
Ridenton, good movement, stronger player, but tries too many little flicks. Needs to take a touch. (only played first half)
Rufer, good size and strength. has a nice touch and wants to get invovled. Played as a target man, but the balls were always too long.
Edge: made one munter challenge, but overall did ok. Had some nice touches and was strong in the air. He looked a little slow across the paddock though.
Patterson: nice touch, confident with the ball at his feet and could hold up his defender. He played far too narrow for a wide man, but I blame that on the tactics.
Dyer: great engine, but for everything good thing he did, he'd stuff up. Kept falling over when turning and overhit every second pass.
Players I did not know or subs.
Tall RB Messenger: Did well. Had a good touch and seemed composed. Was probably caught out a couple times positionally, but that was in part due to know one tracking the LB.
Other CB: Similar to Edge, but a step below.
Number 10 (Lewis?) did not get involved until he dropped further back in the second half. Didn't show much.
Houltheson: seemed really slow. Considering his performances overseas, he looked quite limited.
19: super quick, strong and tall. Nothing more than a race horse though. An athletic machine, nothing more.
15: really liked him. Took a while to get in the game as a sub, but he got the ball and ran at defenders and made them commit. Can't of done his chances any harm.
De Jong: kept making forward runs, when coming to the ball may have been a better option. needs softer shin pads to help his touch.
Goalie: not really tested, other than the two goals did not have too much to do.
Prelevic: Looked good, turned with ball well and seemed to add a little more go to. touch a little iffy at times.
sounds like Hudson sacked the wrong Coachs before thier World Cup!
2 - 1 to NZ. Strange game I thought. After scoring in first minute we were outplayed for large part of the first half. Start of 2nd half we came out roaring then again seemed to go off the boil. But we broke well and by the end we could have won by more if the good chances had been converted.
Didn't realise Panama had landed in NZ at 4.30 a.m. this same day! ( see Steven Holloway article in News Section). Talk about playing under a handicap! Truer form shown in 6-1 (7-1?) hiding they handed Oz yesterday.
Uruguay are playing Panama at 4pm on Wednesday May 20 at Gower Park Hamilton in a match organised by Uruguay with assistance from Melville United.
The newsworthy thing here is the refusal of Fifa U-20 organisers to allow the match to be played on the Gower No 1 pitch - even though hundreds of thousands of dollars of ratepayer money was invested into this pitch to prepare it for the tournament as a training ground.
So the first men's international at Gower Park will be played on No 2, a mud-based pitch which is usually a club training ground.
This "warm-up" is not considered to officially be part of the tournament as such, and the Fifa bozos have determined they will not allow any warm-up matches on designated training pitches, where they take control from May 17.
That's fine in places like Auckland and Christchurch, where there are plenty of alternatives, but patently absurd here in Hamilton, where our sports pitches are in a remedial state. The only pitches that in Hamilton which come anywhere near international standard are those which will be fenced off by Fifa for the tournament.
Big fail for Fifa boffins. Embarrassing for Hamilton, good yarn for media.
The floodlights wouldn't be good enough, would they, at Gower Park? It would be dark half way through the second half! Shame the number one field can't be used, especially as there is going to be a bit of rain in the next week or so
Panama beat Qatar 1-0 and Ghana beat Australia 2-0 today in Hamilton.
Any updates on pre tournament friendlies/team training bases?
Think Fiji lost to Colombia 2-1 in Aus
Honduras have based themselves in Warkworth, north of Auckland. They are playing NZ on Thursday this week up there at Shoesmith Park, 2.45pm.
good result for Fiji
Straya currently 1-0 up over our group A opponents USA. Being played at the home of the sauce bottles.
And it finishes 2-1 to the USA. Both goals within a minute of each other.
Honduras have based themselves in Warkworth, north of Auckland. They are playing NZ on Thursday this week up there at Shoesmith Park, 2.45pm.
Nice day out. I'll take the car. And the dog.
See from the NZ Football website that NZ's final warm up against Austria is at bay City park at 1pm on Sunday 24th
See from the NZ Football website that NZ's final warm up against Austria is at bay City park at 1pm on Sunday 24th
Hasn't it just lost its roof?
Yup it def is at Bays, Going to be a good arvo out.
See from the NZ Football website that NZ's final warm up against Austria is at bay City park at 1pm on Sunday 24th
Hasn't it just lost its roof?
lol - wrong Bay City Park...
how did they do this avo?
what a Rubbish pitch and crap ground to play on
1-1 against Honduras at around the 30th min; Tuiloma scored from a free kick.
Panama v Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan
2.30pm
Sunday
Endeavour Park
We are scoring. But are we competitive?
2-1 Honduras 65th
We are scoring. But are we aligned?
We are scoring. But are we competitive?
Only if we score as many as or more than the opposition.
Seeing Bill's screamer was a buzz. Seeing the Hondurans then take the game to us and put their foot on the gas also a buzz - but a different kind of buzz. I'm getting worried.
PS Next and final warm-up Sunday puts us v Austria who have in their squad 1) a Real Madrid player, and 2) a Bayern Munich player.
Pffft, Bayern and Real couldn't even make the Champions League final. They'll be no match for our players from the mighty Wanderers SC!
We are scoring. But are we competitive?
Only if we score as many as or more than the opposition.
Seeing Bill's screamer was a buzz. Seeing the Hondurans then take the game to us and put their foot on the gas also a buzz - but a different kind of buzz. I'm getting worried.
PS Next and final warm-up Sunday puts us v Austria who have in their squad 1) a Real Madrid player, and 2) a Bayern Munich player.
So Beazley's comments that we dominated the first 20 and got cocky weren't that accurate?
Did we try playing the ball on the ground?
So Beazley's comments that we dominated the first 20 and got cocky weren't that accurate?
Did we try playing the ball on the ground?
1. No.
2. Yes.
We are scoring. But are we competitive?
Only if we score as many as or more than the opposition.
Seeing Bill's screamer was a buzz. Seeing the Hondurans then take the game to us and put their foot on the gas also a buzz - but a different kind of buzz. I'm getting worried.
PS Next and final warm-up Sunday puts us v Austria who have in their squad 1) a Real Madrid player, and 2) a Bayern Munich player.
And a Werder Bremen player and a Stuttgart player and a Hamburg player....
All the final squads were officially announced by FIFA last night.
Full list:
http://www.fifadata.com/document/FWYC/2015/pdf/FWY...
Austria will be very good - they beat off Russia, Romania and Norway to qualify for the UEFA u-19 Finals last year where they beat Hungary and Israel and lost to Portugal in group games, finishing second in their group. Lost to Germany in the semi-final.
They beat Mexico 3-1 in a friendly on March 30
Semi-finalist in 2007
Star player Sinan Bytyqi of Manchester City and was recently sent out on loan to Cambuur-Leeuwarden in the Netherlands, will miss the finals with a torn cruciate ligament.
Tahiti beat Argentina Under 20s 3-1 in friendly in Tahiti...now that's a shock result whatever the context http://golazoargentino.com/2015/05/22/argentina-under-20s-begin-world-cup-preparations-with-defeat-to-tahiti-video/?
match fixing?
Ukraine vs Uruguay friendly today meant to be at mt smart, can anyone confirm what time?