All Whites vs Fiji | Tue 28 Mar | 7:35pm | RoF

Group A:

New Zealand - 7 = Advance to OFC final

New Caledonia - 1

Fiji 0 

Group B:

Tahiti - 6 = Advance to OFC final

Solomon Islands - 3

Papa New Guinea - 0

Top scorers are Wood, Tehau, Gunemba with 5 goals.

OFC final will be a 2 legged fixture. 28th of August and 5th of September are the dates. 

Four goals in three games against Island opposition ain't very impressive.

Time to knock a few in and boost the goal difference on Tuesday night.

Fiji wont suit the conditions here, expect us to domintate, hoping for a great crowd. Would also be good to see the brothers play.

The 17 year old would not make my local pub team. :)

I've been impressed with what little I've seen of Dane. Hopefully he gets to stretch his legs! More likely that Dyer nabs a start though.

Any clue how many accumulated yellow cards incurs a match ban during this stage? And will they get wiped before the OFC play off? Tuiloma is on 2 yellow cards, Colvey & Liam Graham are on 1.

Pre match bar?

Side note: Didn't expect to see XXXTENTACION on this forum

Why do you even ask? Backbencher.

Cos Idk maybe something changed like there was an event on, pub quiz, filming... idk

I'm secretly hoping for a decent crowd for this one - seems to have decent press coverage, AWs coming off a win that everyone will remember and, anecdotally, people are talking about the AWs more than I would expect, or than they ever do about the Nix.

I'll be stoked with anything 5 figures.

10,000+ is pretty ambitious, IIRC we got barely more than that playing Paraguay here after the 2010 WC

[Edit: OFC Twitter account just confirmed Tuiloma is suspended for this game]

anyone 'hoping to see' a player play for the sake of seeing him play for us needs to wait for a friendly match

this is a world cup qualifier

i hope to see our best XI take the field, dominate, qualify for the next stage and build momentum

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/nz-teams/90877504/former-pm-john-keys-cheeky-prediction-of-50-all-whites-win-v-fiji

one more sleep to go, I'm very excited.

How do you guys reckon will replace Tui in the lineup?. Im hoping tThemi will get pushed up like how he does for his club, which means start Smith or Botherton in centre back.

I want to see us score some bloody goals from open play!

Yep, Smith in and Themi pushed forward.

and without the oppositions help

Disclaimer: I have no idea if the player you are talking about is an Ingham. And I agree with you 100%.

I don't think you you really build any momentum (even if you win 12-0) from playing the Island nations. They are just 'ugly games' that have to be played, in order to progress to play in the big matches. I honestly think some of AWs players (esp experienced older pros) if they were honest, would say they struggle to get motivated for these games - just want the win (however scratchy) and to not get injured.

Hudson built some good impetus from creditable performances against Mexico and the USA - who even if they played mostly 2nd elevens - offer far better quality opposition than the Islands, and a truer barometer of Hudson's game plan, setup, progress etc. Those games also drove home how crucial Reid is to the side, such a class act. I'd say AWs are min 20% better with him playing. Fingers crossed he is injury free rest of the year.

Stating the bleedin obvious, Hudson's success or otherwise will be judged on Confeds Cup, and the playoff games against 5th South American team.

All right

Just got to get through work - somehow

Then it's footy time

COYAW!!!

already one dodgy selection for tonight - Dewhurst starting as TV commentator, Pine relegated to radio :(

Dyer to start for Tuiloma

I don't understand why we can't play with some attacking intent and try and retain possession in the attacking third.  My biggest gripe is how frequently we give the ball away from a floated cross or a long ball.  We should be able to play with a bit more technical ability partcularly against teams that are not that well structured defensively - particularly at home.  I was at the North Harbour game and that was the biggest issue, we just gave the ball away constantly without creating anything

PAX=7691 this morning.

ALL WHITES WORLD CUP QUALIFYING RESULTS SO FAR:

2016:
3-1 win vs Fiji (OFC Nations Cup)
5-0 win vs Vanuatu (OFC Nations Cup)
1-0 win vs Solomon Islands (OFC Nations Cup)
1-0 win vs New Caledonia (OFC Nations Cup)
0-0 draw (won on penalties 4-2) vs Papua New Guinea (OFC Nations Cup)
2-0 win vs New Caledonia (OFC third round qualification)
0-0 draw vs New Caledonia (OFC third round qualification)

2017:
2-0 win vs Fiji (OFC third round qualification)

KEY UPCOMING FIXTURES:
vs Fiji in Wellington, 28 March (OFC third round qualification)
- FIFA Confederations Cup (vs Russia, Mexico, Portugal) in Russia, 17-24 June
- OFC qualifying final (vs OFC third round qualifying Group B winner), 28 August-5 September
- FIFA Inter-Confederation play-offs (vs fifth-placed South American side), 6-14 November

That not a bad pax - expect a couple of thousand to walk up.

Anybody got word on Chris Woods' condition? I heard he was nursing a few wounds from the Fiji game.

The performance at NH was disappointing, however I always think in these FIFA windows you should look to the 2nd game (if at home on a good surface) for some improvement - as the team have just had that few more days together. In Hudson's defence he only has his squad together for a few days at a time before each Oceania qualifying game, and his squad come from all over the world. The Fiji team is basically purely domestic. However we should all expect & yes demand a better performance tonight.

From memory gaffer had more time with the AWs before games in North America. It seemed like a full week before the Mexico game? Also he had Reid, who was a colossus in those games. Him and Wood are our only true top level players. Reid plays - AWs grow a massive leg. My memories of those games is that he not only broke down opposition attacks, but was almost a DM building play calmly from the back.

Anyway I read squat into these Island games. It's Confeds Cup that will be a real judge of Hudson. He may be a bit of a tool sometimes, but so far he is achieving what NZF wanted him to do - plus seems his players respect him (at least outwardly).

To some extent I cut the team slack when playing away to the OFC teams because those conditions are brutal, but we still have more than enough advantages that we should be reasonably comfortable in dispatching them, even if it's not pretty. So I don't mind a result like Saturday's. No excuses for home games though. And don't forget that we don't get Confeds to judge our coach on if he can't get past the Island sides, and Hudson came as close as possible to that happening

All fair points.  Want to see a good performance tonight

I think it would be nice if an assist came from one of our players instead of the opposition for a change.

New Zealand's record in home World Cup qualifiers against OFC nations:

Pld: 15   Won: 15  Goals Scored: 75    Goals Conceded: 4

New Zealand's record in home World Cup qualifiers against Fiji:

Pld: 3   Won: 3   Goals Scored: 21   Goals Conceded: 0

New Zealand's record in all home matches against Fiji:

Pld: 10   Won: 10   Goals Scored: 48   Goals Conceded: 1

Given the general talk from Hudson about how good this side is, i'd say a 5-0 win would be about a "par for the course" result.

PAX this arvo = 8302

Beer Pax @ mine = 1 (and counting)    COYAW