Bulid Up Games- Mexico/Serbia/Slovenia

how about this match ???
not confirmed by NZF

Honduras-New Zealand 03/04/2010San Pedro Sula Friendly

Exactly what I'm thinking, surely Ricki can't believe that Siggy, Plodder, Mulligan or Scott would make better right backs (who else is there) or that we can go to South Africa unable to play a decent back four.

This just backs up all my threads regarding the fact that we are thin on the ground.

And all my threads regarding the fact that tomatoes are red.

I'm Flying to LA tomorrow for the game it sounds like its going to be a zoo with 50 - 75,000 at the Rose Bowl. A few of us will be meeting at 6:00 at the  Luck Baldwins Pub in Pasadena
http://luckybaldwins.com/NewIndex.html
to walk to the game if anyone is interested in meeting up.

Cheers,

Geoff< id="gwProxy" ="">< ="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" =""><!--Session -->

All Whites chasing warmup with Chile

By FRED WOODCOCK - The Dominion Post Last updated 05:00 20/03/2010

The All Whites are lining up a final World Cup warmup match against South American hotshots Chile.

New Zealand have been eyeing the final piece in their preparation puzzle for some time and it's understood they are close to securing a match against the highly ranked and skilled South Americans.

It will probably be played on June 8 or 9 in Johannesburg, which is where New Zealand will be based throughout the tournament.

The World Cup kicks off on June 12, with the All Whites' first group match, against Slovakia, in Rustenburg, on June 16.

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert sees Chile as an ideal match.

Marcelo Bielsa's team, ranked 14th in the world, finished second to Brazil in South American qualifying and is expected to play a similar style to Paraguay, who the Kiwis will face in their final group match in Polokwane on June 25.

The training match, which will be open to the media, will likely be played at a training venue, rather than a stadium, and could feature three 30-minute periods.

Herbert will have all but decided on his XI to start against Slovakia by then, with matches against Australia, Serbia and Slovenia in late-May, early-June, so he would use the Chile match as a fine-tuning exercise and possibly give fringe players a run.

Should negotiations fall through, New Zealand Football should have few problems arranging another opponent, with several countries understood to be keen to play the All Whites.

Meanwhile, Ben Sigmund is welcoming the addition of Winston Reid to the All Whites' World Cup calculations.

Reid, a central defender in Denmark's top division, has played for the Danish under-21 team, but last week pledged his senior allegiance to the All Whites in a bid to make the 23-man World Cup squad.

He was born in Auckland but, as a 10-year-old, moved to Denmark with his Kiwi mother and Danish stepfather.

"It's funny where we're finding all these Kiwis from, they're coming out of the woodwork pretty thick and fast. But it's great that we can add another string to the bow in terms of a top defender," said Sigmund, who could be vying directly with Reid for a starting spot in South Africa.

"It sounds like he's playing in a good league so I'm sure Ricki Herbert will be a happy man."

Sigmund said Rory Fallon, Michael McGlinchey and Tommy Smith had all come into the team during the past year and been "great assets" and proven themselves as "true Kiwis", and he was sure Reid would be no different.

But he did have a word of warning for the future.

"I suppose you've got to be a little bit careful and make sure we're selecting quality players, which I'm sure we are, because we don't want to grab just anyone.

"We've got something special at the All Whites and we've got to make sure when we're adding players these guys are worthwhile to the team.

"We've spent five hard years working to get to where we're at so it's important that when they turn up they jump on. I'm sure they will."

With Smith and Reid, the two latest additions, both contenders for the back four, centre back Sigmund is preparing to fight to retain his spot in South Africa.

"I'm going to have to get my big studs out again and start hurting a few people," he joked.

Soccer: World Cup spy game already under way
By Michael Brown
4:00 AM Sunday Mar 21, 2010

The All Whites won't have to go far to get inside information about one of their World Cup opponents.

But nor will their rivals, meaning New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert isn't likely to play his top side in the friendly against Serbia in Klagenfurt in Austria on May 29.

The game is part of a double header that also features a game between fellow World Cup finalists Slovakia and Cameroon - the All Whites open their World Cup against Slovakia in Rustenburg on June 15.

It means Herbert will look to hold something back against Serbia.

"I will probably use the Australia game to field most of the better players and then use a few different options and play slightly differently against Serbia," Herbert said. "It might be a good chance to use a couple of the new guys, like Tommy Smith and Winston Reid.

"But I'm not sure you can always hold your cards back. Apparently Slovakia had some people in Los Angeles for our game against Mexico, even though we had as many as six players away. It will all come down to June 15 anyway."

Herbert assumes that, given they were asked to play the 13th-ranked Serbia later than originally planned, their game will be the main event. It's not often that Slovakia and Cameroon play as curtain-raiser to the All Whites.

It does mean, however, Herbert won't have a chance to watch Slovakia live. Instead, he will send a couple of staff to the ground early to video the match.

New Zealand Football have also hired a London-based video analyst who is putting together extensive coverage of all of the All Whites' World Cup opponents. Defending World Cup champions Italy and Paraguay are the other two teams in their group.

"We will have a lot of information on all of our opponents, as they will on us, by the time we get to the World Cup," Herbert said.

Martin Skrtel is Slovakia's best-known player in this country, largely because he plays for Liverpo0l. The rest of the squad play throughout Europe.

Austria will be something of a pre-World Cup hub with many teams heading there or Switzerland for altitude training to help them acclimatise to playing on South Africa's high veldt.

New Zealand and England will train in Austria for 10 days and others who will train or play games there include the Netherlands, Honduras, Spain, South Korea, Cameroon, Slovakia and Japan. New Zealand play all three pool games at altitude.

They begin their World Cup build-up with a domestic camp in Auckland at the end of April for Australasian-based players, when they will play a select NZFC team.

The World Cup squad will then take on Australia in Melbourne on May 24 followed by friendlies against Serbia (May 29) and Slovenia (June 5) during their altitude training camp.

A final match against another World Cup finalist will be played soon after they arrive in South Africa, with Chile a possible opponent.

The match will be played in Johannesburg behind closed doors and over three 30-minute periods in what will be a final hitout before they take on Slovakia.

http://msn.nzherald.co.nz/soccer-football/news/article.cfm?c_id=86&objectid=10633340

three 30-minute periodsdisappointed....FIFA will not recognize All Whites v Chile match