AW v Iraq - last chance saloon

They signed him as he is young. Simple as that. Paston is like wine, it only gets better as it gets older. I will be proven right tomorrow.

You've got to be joking!

All I'm going to say is no Old, Mulligan, or Boyens and I will be happy.

Look mate

You call playing Mully at right back who has consistently shown he is way outta his depth in the a league and a defensive minded Christie ( reserve player at nix) at right mid a ploy to play maybe not an ''attractive brand of football but a winning brand of football??

Okay against spain maybe Brockie didnt track back, but im sure if you sub him off in the first half he will get the point and will be eager to impress in the game against SA.

Even so Ricki should be making it VERY clear for the boys to pick up their man and not give the ball away so cheaply.....

Yes we do have a couple of players who can spring a good pass in our side

Chris James
Simon Elliot
Leo Bertos

(Havent seen many others)

But it looks to me the players dont seem to have the confidence on the ball to string those passes

Good looking line-up indeed.  Would consider Killen instead of Wood, bringing Wood on at about 65mins, and I'd have Paston.

The 0-1 result against Spain indicates Iraq may be a little better than we realise, despite the rankings. Unless we go nuts this is going to be as tough or tougher than the last game. It sounds like Siggy is fired up by his comments, which were similar to what he said then showed when he started playing for the Nix. Show a bit of mongrel and rattle the bones - love it!!.
If all else fails then make sounds like rocket shells

Unlikely even if he wasn't

looking forward to the game but at the same time, don't want to have to get up on my one sleep in day just to be disapointed by another terrible SA performance.

I'd like to see Brockie given another shot - I too think he would be willing to prove himself.And Mulligan .. hmm... dont want him there but who else? Switch out Boyens or Vicelich?
Or theres always Manny... oh wait

is the replay on one? can't afford sky so was planning to be streaming it playwithFire2009-06-20 23:43:05

yup 13:35 - ....i think

Head-to-head

- Iraq and New Zealand have met twice before, during qualification for the 1974 World Cup, with Iraq winning both matches.

- Iraq striker Sabah Hattem was the star of the show scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 win in March 1973. He also scored in a 2-0 victory earlier that month. Both fixtures were played in Sydney.

Iraq

- It has now been more than a year since Iraq last won an official international fixture. Their last victory came against China in a World Cup qualifying match on 14 June 2008.

- Iraq have never won a match during the finals of a Fifa competition. They lost all three matches during the 1986 World Cup.

- Ahmad Radhi Amaiesh Al-Salehi is the only player to have scored a goal for Iraq during a Fifa tournament. He scored in Iraq's 2-1 defeat to Belgium at the 1986 World Cup.

New Zealand

- New Zealand and Iraq are the only two sides yet to register a goal. Just two sides in Confederations Cup history have failed to score during the entire competition; Canada in 2001 and Greece in 2005.

- Four of the seven goals conceded by the All Whites have been scored in the opening 30 minutes of their matches.

- New Zealand have never won a Confederations Cup match in eight previous attempts.

- The All Whites have only scored twice in Confederations Cup encounters, Chris Zoricich scored in a 2-1 defeat to the USA in 1999, with Raffaele de Gregorio bagging a consolation in the 3-1 defeat to Colombia in 2003.

Oh ok. Think I'll still get up and watch it because if I did sleep in then we will win and I'll have to wait for so long to wait for the game haha

On another note, if we win, we won't finish last in our pool! When I figured that one out it kinda gave me some encouragement

Im quite happy about the fact Iraq havn't scored too. quite encouraging because I assume they play primarily counter attacking footbll and we don't often commit too many men forward anyawy

I'll be happy if we score a goal

I will persever and be up to watch the game although on the last few games performance im not holding out too much hope..regardless of the skill level on new zealand football i would rather they lost 6-0 than play the dull uninspired stuff they are at the moment, marking space isnt as good as marking a player, basic ball control hasnt been good, seems like smeltz ans killen play too similiar a game...and brown as a midfielder doesnt do it for me

Against South Africa, Iraq looked a reasonably defensive boring team. Especially in the second half, they just dived whenever they got within cooey of the South Africa's box. And they were pumping in rubbish crosses anyway. Could be a different story against us... they have a tremendous chance to get to the semis.

You are so right, should have been in the staring line from day 1.

Scotty at RB

anyone got an english stream?

good to see Siggy at CB.

hell I though that was going to be a soft goal to Iraq..  just over the bar!~7minRedGed2009-06-21 06:39:39

yeah iraqgoals keeps stopping!

Siggy looks up for it... why is Brown on the park? We have a real chance here, the Iraqi team are very nervous...oh and how good is Moss...

feels wrong watching it on that channel anyway. lol.

Killen rush of blood,,shoots too high and wide...but promising attack there.

oh what a chnce

yeah Killen! misses from 10 yards!

was about to say we look a more competent side today, then Killen had that mare.....even so at least we are playing with the ball in their half....

you can already see the tactics we have to employ in the WC playoff.. these guys don't like it when you get in their faces.... good attitude tonight

and making quality plays too.

anyone got a good link?

Siigys up for it! see that earlier challenge where he got a caution for elbow..  NZ in black showing a lot more promise today ..even commentator agrees !  NZ having more possession..19 mins

much better mentality?

English or good link to game?

Wow the AW's are playing good football..yeahhhh!!!

just over 24 mins ..we are in their half on attack ... and still 0 - 0..  .
nz corner ...end to end stuff..Bertos has a couple of cracks  one a cross the shot on goal..stats might even favour us!.. Smeltz... has a go... wide again but they are creating chances.28 mins
RedGed2009-06-21 07:00:20

Nice shot by Bertos.

all i can get is iraqgoals and its incredibly frustrating

Whew just wide Smeltz off the head...c'mon Kiwis!

OMG so damn close = Smeltz.