New Zealand Men's U-20s

Patterson looks technical

Wow, that was fantastic build up play round the edge of the box there, and a lovely squaring ball across.  Deserved a goal.

the last 10 minutes has certainly opened up. nice effort Junior AW

Dont tell me its going to be another set of 3 draws at a World Cup? 

#undefeatedmyarse

Wow. What a miss.

I think we probably have had the three best chances of the match.

fudgefudgefudgefudge

Sign the lad up for the Phoenix. Fits the #notastriker criteria perfectly

unbelievable the chances we have missed!

How...

I'm enjoying this!! 

I know I cant believe Thundersticks are still a thing either!!!

Stoked to be so disappointed we didn't get a win today. Absolutely sensational 2nd half performance. Really proud of the boys.

I'm happy with the draw..being the opening game, there was nerves, lapses, chances. Not bad. nice way to start the WC

Great effort all around I reckon. On a good day could have won it.

I've really enjoyed this game.  Its been good to watch a mens team match a decent international side and actually look like they may win it.

Was pleased with Patterson and the other lad who came on as subs.

Shooting practice required before the USA game.

(Night night everyone from the UK)

Well, actually I think there were some pretty good invidual moments, specially Edge, Tuiloma, Stevens, Sail and Patterson, but as a unit the team doesn't work quite well. It's been a good draw but a lot has to change in order to get something from the next match, USA will be tougher

Not too flash first half, but second half we picked it up...really should have scored at the end but overall a draw is great for us.  I think that second half performance will give them some self belief that they belong here.

I know he came on late but Billingsley appears to have a bit of pace for a big lad - about time

Oh my..... 

COYJAW

Pretty impressive stuff considering most were expecting us to get pumped and that was a Ukrainian team stacked with pros.

Had some decent chances and scrambled pretty well. Certainly worked their asses off on defence.

Ukraine pressed well and I don't think guys like Wynne dealt with it that well, but that's tough on anyone - especially without midfield offering.

I though both centre backs were bloody good. Especially Brotherton.

Quite enjoyed that, especially the second half.  Had some nice fluent creative moves, and passing accuracy stopped a few others, nice to see them looking to play some football. 

A better side would have finished a couple past them though.

I was quite pleased with our team's performance.

These things are always relative to our minor place in the footballing world, lack of funding and general lack of interest from the public compared to many, many other countries.

So I thought some of the critical comments on here were way too harsh.

We were competitive with one of Europe's best teams at this level.

There's no way that would have happened in the 1980's or 1990's.

In June 1982 the then Fourth Division AFC Bournemouth smashed our u-19 team here in NZ 5-0 and 6-0 (and Bournemouth were struggling by that stage of the tour to field a full side and gave assistant coach Harry Redknapp his last run as a player).

On the evidence today, there's a few lads on the Junior All Whites team who will go on to good professional careers. 

Brotherton, Mitchell, Lewis, Sail, Patterson, Ridenton and Edge all looked very promising.

I agree Ukraine were wasteful and on another day we may have lost which is why the point is so good. Goes a long way to getting us into next round.

Enjoyed the game, did think the AW side tried to play out from the back but we did go long once we got in their half a lot of the time in the 1st half. Thought we got better and better in the 2nd half and felt that Bill was the best player on the park. We started to play the ball more in the last 15-20 minutes and I honestly felt we deserved a win in the end.  Lots of positives for me in the game despite my wondering about how we would play.  They were better than I expected, looking forward to going to Tuesday nights game.

Watched the US v Myanmar game at the pub but cant work out how we will do against the US. I didnt see any US players who stood out as game winners but hard to tell from just one game.

Hope Bill T's groin injury is able to be sorted before the US game as I thought he was our classiest player. 

if you look at the team ages we have a young team compared to the ukrainians - i think they didn't have a single 18 year old (all 19 or 20) and we had about 6 from memory and Brotherson who is 17.

I don't get some of the negativity here. IMO the boys did really really well. We only have four pro's in the side....the rest of the team are from ASB level. The Ukraine side are no mugs...they qualified out of Europe. Which is better than traditional powerhouses like France, Spain, Holland, Italy etc.

The lads were very nervous at the start but once they settled they more than held there own. Late second half they really were doing well. Before the tournament I wondered where our goals were going to come from. We certainly created openings but we don't appear to have natural goal scorers. Obviously the coach thinks the same way....Rufer up front....Hmmmmm!!!

It was a very entertaining game full of action. A win would have been great(how good an opportunity was that in injury time?) however the way NZ played was a very positive sign. A win would probably get them into the next round. This tournament is shaping up nicely. The crouds will build, the media will hook in.....its going to be a huge success.

Noah Billingsley is 17. Ole /Wests.

Tuiloma said on twitter he should be fine for next game

sorry yes meant Billingsley not Brotherson - i think he is 18.

I thought it was an earned result against a better team.

I did find the number of unforced errors frustrating. Some of that is the difference in skill level but some is confidence and composure on the ball when under real pressure and with less time than your used to. I definitely thought our composure and confidence grew in the 2nd half.

Really good effort and decent result.

Hopefully we get a big croud in Wellington and the lads have a real crack at winning it.

Unforced errors are obviously going to happen more with younger players, though; that applies to every team, not just ours.

Congrats to the team, think that's a terrific result and the fact we competed at home in front of a big home croud is testament to their preparation. That kind of occassion has easily overwhelemed NZ teams in the past.

Great display from the JAW's, considering nerves and expectations on their shoulders they put together a very good professional performance and deserved the point. Could've even snatched the winner imo.

Very exciting game to watch.

Looking forward to the next games, hopefully NZ can make it out of the group

Just watched the game now. I thought we did bloody well , we grew in confidence and had a few spells where we looked really good and put some good little passes together. Rate Tuiloma and thought that Sail and Wynne were good too. Great croud in aswell. Overall a good result roll on the next game

I think people had a go at  Wyne before in this thread and admittedly I wasn't at the game so I can't put my hand on my heart and comment on his defensive duties (didn't see anything alarming however on the box). For a long period of time however he was our only attacking spark and I thought he looked good going forward

Wynn had a very good second half and became a good attacking option as the game progressed and got in behind them a few times.

Moses Dyer is a funny player. Great engine and does some really good work defensively... but as soon as he does something good he tends to make a mistake. If he could be come a bit more consistant with the ball, him and Tuiloma could make a good combo.

Patterson looks very comfortable on the ball. I am surprised he isn't starting as I believe he offers a lot more than Lewis. Perhaps a work load issue off the ball?

Patterson looked very good and a big lump of a lad with good controlwho surely must be better the Rufer up front?