New Zealand at the World Cup

New Zealand

Manager: Ricki Herbert

Captain: Ryan Nelsen

FIFA World Ranking: 82

World Cup Appearances: 1

Best World Cup: Round 1 – 1982

Profile:

New Zealand is world famous in Rugby, a sport the Kiwi’s are well reowned for, but football, or soccer as they like to call it, hasn’t never been a speciality of theirs simply because they’ve never been much good at it. However, that could all be about to change after New Zealand, after Rory Fallon’s winning headed goal in the play-off’s with Bahrain. That result has now got the fans back home dreaming of the finals and it was fitting that they were drawn in the same group as the defending world champions, Italy.

However, fans shouldn’t get too carried away as New Zealand are huge underdogs in South Africa and will do well to register a single point. A player with world class calibre isn’t to be seen and so the Kiwi’s will need to show some resolve and a lot of heart if they are to leave South Africa with some African fans. The Kiwi’s will be used to the surroundings, though, after their participation in the 2009 Confederations Cup in which they did manage to earn a point after a 0-0 draw with Iraq. They were, however, given a football lesson against Spain, losing 5-0, and that game just emphasises the huge gulf in class New Zealand will be attempting to bridge this summer.

Key Player:

Ryan Nelsen –

The Kiwi’s captain is also the captain for Blackburn Rovers (England) and will be the player everyone looks up to in this New Zealand squad. He has bags of experience at the highest level and is a rock at the back for both club & country. He has 38 international caps to his name along with six international goals, which is a creditable tally for a defender who only raids forward for set-plays. He is agile in the air, quick at reading plays and a great tackler. He will need to lead by example at the back for New Zealand as their defence will come under plenty of scrutiny.

Strengths:

It’s hard to really say without seeing too much of them but they are a nation who like to attack and they could cause country’s a few problems at the back. They gave Italy, a team in their group at the world cup, several scares last year when the pair met in an international friendly. The Italian’s were victorious in the end, winning 4-3, but only after they came from behind on more than one occasions to overhaul a confident looking New Zealand side that day. They also shown plenty of attacking intent in the Confederations Cup last year in which they bombed forward at every opportunity, although they did concede a fair few for their troubles. Still, we would have to say their attacking play is their strongest asset until we see otherwise.

Weakness:

Their defence. Without a shadow of a doubt. Ryan Nelsen has plenty of experience but he’s only one man and his knowledge of the game won’t be enough to carry a vulnerable and exposed New Zealand defence. Their defence was found wanting on the big stage at the Confederations Cup last year, conceding two against South African but shipping five to Spain, the European champions. That’s the scary thing about this New Zealand side is that not only do they have an exposed back line but they are also not used to such an intimidating tournament and nerves could very well hinder any decent performance they have within them.

Qualification:

Sector: Oceania

Position: 1st

Win-Draw-Lose: 5-0-1

Goals Scored: 14

Goals Conceded: 5

Secured qualification via a two-legged play-off with Bahrain, winning 1-0 on aggregate through Rory Fallon in the away leg.

World Cup Potential: 1/5

We won’t be mean and put a ‘0′ but thus is a fair assessment on how little we rate New Zealand’s chances at the forthcoming African World Cup. Their squad is far too weak to even be competing at this level and they will find out in no time at all that they are punching above their weight. However, this a special and rare occasions for their followers back home and they won’t go their to win the tournament outright but rather to enjoy the scenario and salvage the moment. We wish them all the best but they are one of a select few in this summers finals that we can safely say won’t be winning the competition outright.

Current World Cup Odds: 3000/1 – Expekt

World Cup Group F - Table

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