2012 OFC Nations Cup Solomon Islands

We should hire Solomon's coach. That man knows how to play football. The way we are playing you were think we were playing italy again. Solomon Island look 100x better.

Right, he makes Dewhurst sound brilliant...

final score?

10mins +stoppage time remaining, still 1-1

Myers is honking. Worse than Hogg

Full time 1-1

Solomon Islands played extremely well, dominated the game. Really impressed with the quality of the football played in this tournament. How often is the OFC Nations Cup held?

Very much a second string NZ team though.

Cheers. I hope it comes back to NZ soon. Good to see big crowds in the Solomons though

Wasnt sure where to put this, cant see it anywhere else

2B the star in his white suit

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All Whites fan Dale Warburton in Honiara. Photo / Facebook

It's not hard to spot Dale Warburton in a crowd, even one made up of more than 20,000 people.

Resplendent in a white suit, white shoes and matching top hat, the 28-year-old Wellingtonian is the odd one out.

Warburton is the only travelling fan following the All Whites at the Oceania Nations Cup football tournament in the Solomon Islands, which also doubles as New Zealand's first round of World Cup qualifiers, and wears the suit at every international he attends.

He wore it at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and hopes he will have to pull it out of the wardrobe when the next World Cup takes place in Brazil in 2014.

It's something Warburton takes seriously - he and some friends who are also members of the fan group White Noise imported the suits from England and picked up the hats in South Africa - but it also comes at a cost.

On Monday he endured 39-degree heat in Honiara as the All Whites took on Papua New Guinea. By the end, the trousers were rolled up and jacket well and truly dispensed with.

"It's pretty draining watching games here," he said. "You don't realise it at the time but you just come back after a game and want to go to sleep. It's pretty tough for me but I can't imagine what it's like for players or referees.

"But I have committed myself to the suit, so I can't bail out now."

Warburton, who works for the Ministry of the Environment, describes his relationship with football as "bordering on obsessive". He played Central League for Wellington United as a goalkeeper before his finger was broken by former All Whites midfielder Andy Barron, is a member of Yellow Fever who support the Wellington Phoenix, watches a lot of national league and club football and coaches as well.

"It's my one outlet from other things and takes up a fair chunk of my week," he said. "I'm pretty confident I'm the only travelling supporter and I don't know what that means about me. I don't know if that's a good or a bad sign.

"It's certainly an experience being here. I went to the World Cup in South Africa and that was an eye-opener in terms of the difference between countries. This is that next step. South Africa is a reasonably developed Third World country but this is an actual Third World country.

"The people here have been really nice. They will come and chat to you in the stands and ask you where you are from. They will support the All Whites and try to start some chants. It's been really good."

Well, an utterly delightful afternoon of football to commentate on - I'm lifted by the performances of Papua New Guinea today, in particular, Samuel Kini, David Muta and Kema Jack, with a special mention for goalkeeper Leslie Kalai. Coach Frank Farina has worked wonders with his team and although they bow out with just a draw and two defeats they can hold their heads high - they've prepared well, looked organised, disciplined, they've worked hard, and entertained. What more could you ask for? Admittedly, they'll look back on Nations Cup 2012 with a sense of what might've been, especially in the match with New Zealand where they missed two sitters, and what now looks like a poor match with Solomon Islands to open with. A bright future ahead for them if they can retain Farina...

Fiji - they've slipped into the football abyss. A country with an affluent domestic league, talented players, bows out of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Oceania Qualifiers at Stage 2. No more World Cup football for Roy Krishna or Osea Vakatalesau, and Krishna will also have his own regrets after failing to hit the back of the net. He played today with an injured ankle, though, so not the real deal this afternoon, but despite that neither he, nor any of his team-mates could muster enough to down their plucky opponents.

New Zealand's decision to field a second string side in today's showdown with the Solomon Islands could prove a shrewd move with a semi-final looming in 48 hours. Ricki Herbert left out Smeltz, Killen and Vicelich as he eyes the FIFA Confederations Cup ticket on offer. And no harm done blooding a clutch of youngsters who will more than likely rise to take over from their teammates for the 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign. Chris Wood was on target with his second strike of the tournament to take his tally to four goals in 24 appearances. 

The day belonged to a full strength Solomon Islands team and one man stood out above all others - Benjamin Totori. If that guy isn't good enough to play in the A-League, then I don't know who is. He was hungry, mean and brought a rare level of skill and entertainment to the match that had folks off their seats. Henry Fa'a'rodo was nice to watch while Joses Nawo and Leslie Nate also had some nice touches. Nelson Sale Kilifa looks like a miniature Fabio Cannavaro - he's not big for a centre half, but he can pass the ball, tackle, read the game and is aggressive. All this minus Judd Molea and Alick Maemae. 

As you can tell, I'm excited by what I've seen and hope there is even more to come in the next four matches.

If you feel like asking a question send me an email, or if you have constructive criticism about the commentary or event, I'm happy to front your inquiries.

Cheers,

Gordon Glen Watson

Gordon have you ever worked for Sky TV?

No, I haven't. I did do a commentary for the 2007 Football for Life charity match between New Zealand 'A' and Fiji at Churchill Park in Lautoka with Fiji TV, though. That match was broadcast by Sky TV live, so indirectly speaking, I've been 'heard' through their platform before. But otherwise, no. 

GGW

I quite liked 3 News' summation of the game "The All Whites' unbeaten run is over......" Uh, it is?

GGW just wanted to say that your commentary today was superb! Thank you very much

Ha, that's terrible. Is it just me or are TV3 pretty inconsistent with their football coverage. One minute their fantastic and the next minute they're crap. At least with TV1 they're consistently poor!

really worried if we can win this tournament..... the way we are playing now i dont think we can.  this heat is affecting us badly, hopefully we aclimatize before the final

Okay cheers Gordon. I agree with others on here, your commentary has been superb. I think having someone like you commentating Phoenix and All Whites games would add a lot to the experience of watching those games on Sky TV. Keep up the good work. 

I like Miles, he calls it how he sees it and corrects himself when he's buggered the call up.  Better than Dewhurst.

Miles is a terrible commentator, I honestly cringe every time he opens his mouth.

I watched the match with a friend who is not a football fan and he was constantly laughing at Miles Davis' calls throughout. Me on the other hand thought Gordon Glen Watson was great.

Gordon is absolutely fantastic, easily the best football commentator in New Zealand.

There were many of them but one I remember vividly was when he said there was nothing in it when the Soloman Island's player slid in two feet on Gleeson late when Boxall cleared it. I don't recall him correcting that on the replay either. If he calls it how he sees it he is actually blind. 

I think Andrew Dewhurst a thousand times better than Miles. Miles is our version of the auld onion bag.

I can't believe I'm writing this, but Tommy with a Y>Miles.

Piney + Gordon = commentary dream team

+ David Chote.

Would also accept GGW + Harry.

I'd rather have Miles than Tommy myself, but here's some "guarantees" when listening to a Miles Davis OFC Nations Cup commentary:

1) Testicular fortitude.

2) An acceptance/approval of some rather dodgy play.  Followed by a giggle and how "refreshing it is to see".

3) A positive West Ham reference.

4) An extremely negative Scottish/South American reference.

5) That the 2012 OFC Nations Cup is the best tournament in the last 25 years of footballing history.

Can anyone say The 12th Man?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sONjH9sE1GY

If anyone wants to know what the White Noise zone looks like https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=421230897900481&set=a.418195274870710.92147.396575173699387&type=3&theater

Kinda glad that SI scored today.  The reaction was incrediable and the stand shock quite a bit.

Pretty pleased with the result today. An under strength squad, difficult conditions and a tough team to play at home. 

While I want us to qualify for every FIFA tournament going, I am pleased to see there seems to be an improvement in island football which means nz are being given a real test. I cannot see us ever being allowed into the Asian confederation, so development and strengthening of Oceania football can only be a good thing. I would like to see more regular games against Oceania countries, even if it means initially we are onl? able to put out nz or aus based teams. I think it would also be good to see more players from this confederation in the a- league. Surely strengthening the Oceania confederation by having good players from the islands in the Phoenix is better than scrabbling around Australia or elsewhere to boost the squad when there is potential to look closer to home. (assuming they are as good, or have thpotential to be as good, as anything else on offer.)

I would love to see a really strong OFC nations cup in the coming years, and also would prefer it to be held away from NZ every time. The level of support in the solomons has been great, realistically we would never get those kinds of crowds, and I actually like that the playing field is somewhat levelled by the conditions. 

On top of that, I think it would be fantastic if an island nation could qualify for the confederations cup. The world cup is another matter, but imo I don't think it would be that big of a deal for NZ to miss out on the confeds cup, and the benefit it might bring to a country like the solomons could far outweigh what it might do for us.

Mark "Extreme Sports Glory Hunter" Watson: "Last time I checked, cannibalism still exists in parts of PNG...I mean really,  2-1?????...NZ should be beating them 10-0...I'm still not convinced about soccer in NZ..."

I'm not so sure. We're a long, long way from being a finished product in international football, and missing out on the Confederations Cup robs us of another high-profile opportunity at the highest stage (both in terms of gaining experience as a developing international side, and in terms of media interest here in NZ) as well as discrediting us on the global stage (especially if the island team that qualifies gets thumped as you would expect them to) which could bring a whole string of further negative consequences for us.

So yeah, I'd say winning this tournament is a pretty important thing for NZ football.

It is important, and has proved great for nz footballersbefore. I think Ryan nelsen had a great 2004 tournament and was shortly after signed by Blackburn.  However, if another country qualifying helps grow the game -and the quality of the game- in the region, thenlong term that might not be a bad thing either. That said, I desperately want us to win this tournament and get to the next confeds cup!