AW v Iraq - last chance saloon

I was just embaressed.

Imagine what the other countries were thinking watching Herbet celebrate like he just won the 100m race at the olympics.

Even egypt would of been like...pfffft, i make win on italy i no celebrate that. These guys draw with iraq. I pity the fool.

ok so we got a draw against iraq..ya!!  well maybe to put that into perspective irag aint a great team or even a moderately good one. we may have held onto the ball a bit longer than normal but holding tha ball isnt exactly playing with it. I feel that the commentator got it right when he said new zealand when gettngthe ball seem to have to go backward to go forward and when they are in a good attacking position wait too long to unload the pass that would make a difference. I feel that thats exactly the way the nix also play and maybethe coach needs to look long at hard and long at what exactly his tactics are because IMO its way too defensive, this also being born out by his substitutions during the game...and I still cant see for the life of me why mulligan still figures in both international and nix plans ...I will say however that Moss had a good game and he is somebody that I for one will miss in he coming seasons

Glad to hear that the All Whites got that ellusive point. The game end antics sound a bit weird though. But i'd say that Ricki and the teams sights weren't set too high and i'd say that their goal was to get a point and they did. Good on em for doing it. Maybe next time it'll be for a win on the compeditive stage? Hopefully!

From this campaign there has been a lot of positive media for the all whites. I even think getting hammered by Spain was some of it. Its hard to get behind an international game like football if you don't know how you team compares on the international stage. And losing 5-0 to the CURRENT No.1  team in the world is not bad. For a country that prides itself on its rugby i think they did great. And maybe turned some heads in the process. Great efort

I think some people lack of respect for Iraq's quality is diappointing. Yes they are having a bad year in contrast to theirs  previous years performances in the Asian region, but this is a team which was good enough to come out on top or a region boasting Australia, Japan, Korea etc to get there... and that suggest talent.

Lighten up you lot.

Team's been under a lot of pressure with two very back foot performances, the All Whites have never got a point at a FIFA tournament, so I think we need to put their celebrations in the context of how they would have been feeling: tense.

Well done to them.

Get real ay.
Good on them for getting a point, but dont celebrate and embarras the nation.
Makes me sick seeing Rikki celebrate like that.
Iv talked to about 10 different people and they all couldn't believe it.
If it was a point that was needed in order to advance to the next round, then ye celebrate.

fk Im happy with the draw, the players are happy with the draw, and the coach - why not show your happiness? If we'd blown out in that game then bye Confed Cup for us for sure- thats what would be embarassing Feverish2009-06-21 16:52:28

Nah, I'm with the mob on this one - that was cringe inducing stuff from Ricki. There's a bit of siege mentality set in with him and the pressure is taking its toll. Even so, I like my coaches to be square-jawed, taciturn and hard to please.

I take it everyone who's having a go at the behaviour of coaching staff at full-time are including Glen Moss in their tirades?  He was visibly celebrating as well when the whistle went.

I can understand their celebrations at getting the first point ever at a FIFA tourny and I'm sure emotions take over as they would with anyone, but looking back now it seems OTT. Getting a point was a victory of sorts, finishing last in the group and not scoring a goal was not.

Getting that point is to the All Whites what scoring a goal in indoor is to me.  An unbelievable moment.  Celebrate it for all it's worth I reckon.

It's a little bit cringeworthy but I don't blame them for it in the slightest.  Quite an achievement.
Smithy2009-06-21 18:57:05

If I was Moss I'd have celebrated as well, he had more reason than anyone else. He was again a rock and there should be a number of quality clubs looking seriously at him.

RH's celebration showed how much that point meant to him.

Would have preferred to see a bit more ambition from him with the substitutions. For me Mulligan and Christie were poor choices, would have liked to see James and Oughton get some game time rather than the two phoenix stand warmers.

I still think Christe more so than Mulligan could have a role for the nix this year. Despite all the options we have.

At first glance I thought the celebrations were over the top but then had a think about it.....This was our first ever point at a senior mens Fifa tournament, the team had not played very well in the last two games, was getting criticism from back home and just relief in getting the monkey off our back. Teza2009-06-21 19:12:55

I always thought Greece was in Europe.

I watched both TV1 and TV3 sports news to compare how the two networks would cover the result. The contrast was very typical. Both, as expected, releagated the coverage behind the All Blacks (which will never change), but also behind the US Open (which was pretty ridiculous given no Kiwi made the cut). Beyond that, however, the differences were more pronounced. Marius Lacatus2009-06-21 20:06:46

TV3 seemed good but still vague, only showing a couple of chances. I def agree that the mentality of TVNZ is sh*t, they need to realise that they control the view of football here to a degree, the more footage etc showed the better.

the sooner they stop showing so much of rugby and start showing more of the bigger sports in the world the better. I mean thats where all the REAL money is.....

Moss can celebrate as a clean sheet in a confed cup is an achievement. Rikki Herbert is crap, got no idea as a coach and has to go.
Bring in Rufer

Which Rufer ?

AW's getting a point from a FIFA tournie is worthy of a pat on the bum. After their lesson from Spain and failure to turn up to Sth Africa a draw was a fine result regardless of the score. Would you still be so down hearted if it was 2 or 3 all?

Only saw the highlights coverage on tv1 this afternoon (thought they were showing the full game, so did not watch online . . .)

yeah, was a shame we did not score- neither killen or smeltz clicked today, which was a shame, as any other day either or both would have had a couple. For me, Bertos was, as always, great. His head never drops, and he fights for the ball, and is always looking to create something. Even at his worst, we seem to get  a throw in or corner .

Moss had a good game, and for me, his best moment (apart from taking one on the face) was diving through players in the box and palming/punching it clear. Still worries me how often he saves with his feet, and a goalie in a team under pressure (phoenix/all whites) will always have plenty of opportunity to shine . . .

I thought the celebrations were ok- loooked like mainly mossy and the coaching staff, and it is a significant moment (remember it for quiz nights- who did nz play to gain their first ever senior men's fifa competition point?)

Was good to see (esp in first half) some passing and movement off the ball. Much  much better than against SA, and at least we attempted that against spain.

Surely, before the tournament started, most of us would have taken a point given all teams ranked higher than us?

(also, very very pleased no one got sent off- ill discipline has cost us before, so I think that is a reall positive too)

Quality post

Sounds like Paul Henry's disease has spread throughout TVNZ building

wE ARE GETTING NO BETTER UNDER hERBERT,iT WAS THE LADS THEMSELVES LIKE sIGGY AND bERTOS THAT DID IT FOR US!!

Thats fairly churlish, he's justifiably taken some criticism but either the buck stops with him or it doesn't. At a very minimum you can give him credit for making changes and picking the right players

I thought the celebrations were a little over the top, but was pleased to see it wasn't done by the players.  Most of them looked a bit pissed off that we didn't win, which I think was the right attitude to have (although I am certainly not understating what a massive achievement it was getting our first point at something like this).  In all honesty, for a third of the competition we were dire and that shouldn't be ignored.

 Those cynical souls in TV1 Sports and News need to wake up to the fact that NZ has moved on from blind devotion to one or two dominant sports of the past.

 Much is made of Kiwi traditions and pride in those sports- what they forget or disrespect is an equally valid pride and tradition in NZ Football, held with members of clubs and associations up and down the country.

Couple that with the huge influx of new "NZers" whose sport of choice is Football and it seems obvious to me TV1 risk alienating increasing numbers of viewers.

New Zealand Football this morning took another step up the credibility ladder. As it inevitably gains more credibility,more of a following, I expect NZ Football will recognise and reward its solid media allies,  and sideline those who mock and snipe.
RedGed2009-06-22 00:23:17

 Moss probably can afford to may have played himself into a higher paying contract from other clubs including europe.

A win would have been nice, of course. They still have all the rights to feel very happy to pull a decent result at a senior FIFA competition. A real mixed bag of a tour and I think there were plenty of lessons learnt about our limitations, which we need to push and see where we really at as a team.

I believe that we can do well to get to the World Cup finals. If we are able to pull off the play-offs against either the 5th Asian Team (Bahrain or Saudi) then we certainly deserve to go.

However, as much as I would then appreciate the efforts that Ricki and Brian has done for us to get there. I just feel that it is still a too bigger stage for them to coach the team at. It's just another new level. We need to hire a short term coach with large credibility in a lead up to the WC finals and in the WC tournament. I would still keep Ricki and Brian on as his assistant coaches/advisor for the campaign so that they can learn off him as a continuity after WC, but we need a top coach for that stage.

I think that once we are confirmed we got to the WC finals after the play-offs, we have to ask for government funding and some private donators who is willing to cough the cash to pay for a top quality coach who is willing to try and increase his price on the top coach billing list. To direct a World cup team very successfully during the WC tournament will increase his personal price tag/profile and it will be a win-win situation.

Thats very much Australia did with Guus Hiddlinks in 2006. Of course we don't have his price tag but there are plenty of quality tactical coaches that would have the ability to turn lower ranked teams to perform with credit and maybe even snap a 2nd place (depending on who's in the group).

This should be a serious consideration, and is the best thing that we should do for the team and the country. I would not like to embarrass the country, the team, the NZF or future footballers. If we have a quality coach that we could trust and know that he is getting the best out of our footballers and is in touch with the type of different national teams that opposes us and how to play them. Then I think it's worth it on the world cup final stage.

The World Cup Finals is a stage for promotion of any country and it is the best tourism promotion you can have. It is bigger than the Olympics so a decent amount of money should be place there.AllWhitebelievr2009-06-22 00:23:28

I'm very happy with a draw against Iraq.  Asian football is frequently underestimated so to play well and grab our first FIFA tournament point against the champions of Asia is not to be sneezed at.  Ofcourse, if the Asian Cup was to be held again now I'm fairly sure Iraq would certainly not win it, but still, they are a good side.

I somehow managed to sleep through my alarm and missed the game!  It appeared, when I looked at it, that I pulled the cord out at the wall and punched the switch below it onto the 'on' position (got angry at the alarm distracting me perhaps?).

I think it's great to see Ricki Herbert celebrating a positive end to a woeful tournament.  He'll feel a lot better after that, and if I'd been on the sidelines with him I'd probably have reacted exactly the same.  Good to see a bit of passion in NZ football.

AWB - you come up with some great ideas but central to every one of them is this idea of Government Funding. But unfortunately it doesn't work like that, unless it's got yachting on it they won't fund it!

In Stuff today:

"But just when you thought that act of stupidity would never be matched along comes Ricki Herbert. The All Whites boss danced up and down the sideline after a scoreless draw with war-torn Iraq at the Confederations Cup."


Cosimo2009-06-22 07:44:47

Anyone heard of Pim before he was appointed?... beyond his Asian coaching experience, he didn't have much of a profile... but had worked cwith some quality coaches and organisations previously, and thats the kind of person we need to (and can) target. Regardless of whether we get to WC or not, thats what we need to progress - I'm afraid RH can't do it, and for the sake of his career he could do a lot worse than move offshore for a few years and gain some experience (ie: Europe - not Aussie lol).

That was written by Millmow in his column, in which he tries to be deliberately provocative. Nevertheless, he hardly leave the impression of being a die-hard football fan. Iraq was even more "war-torn" when it won the Asian Championships - so Im not sure what that proves. He and maybe others at the Dom also seem to have it in for Herbert at the moment. Almost weekly, they seem to have a snipe at something he does or says- or just football in general. Its been a repetitive ad tiresome theme in recent weeks. In Sidelines, two weeks ago, in big bold writing on the back page, they took the piss out of his comment that Tanzania "were a bloody good side" (as if they have a clue about African football) after we lost that match and then last week they found some quote from an international journo/newspaper bagging the AWs for being absolute rubbish after the Spain game.

Stirs up the masses,.. as you say Marius Lacatus  deliberately provocative.

 Cheap shots like that get people worked up enough to respond--59 comments posted when I last looked...justifies his column and his wage,I guess.
Shame its at the expense of NZ Football ..and Henry too.
Should be celebrating success, not bagging it ffs.
RedGed2009-06-22 10:07:21

Congratulations to Ricki and the All Whites for securing their first ever point at a FIFA tournament.

There is nothing wrong with celebrating such a significant milestone. In fact, it was refreshing to see a bit of passion. The pressure was on and the boys proved that they are good enough to compete at this level.

I am now really looking forward to the world cup play-off.

yeah exactly. Typical f**king kiwi pessimism. We need to get rid of this mentality, its worse than bloody swine flu!

As i was watching the final whistle go, i wasn't jumping around for joy that we had drawn. But as i began to think about just how huge an effort this was. And the players have gone through a lot. To be known as the first team (and coach) to get a competitive point for New Zealand, how proud they must be feeling.

Had no problem with the celebrations. Where is the positivity?