New Zealand U-23s - Quali Whites

I feel sorry for Dakota Fanning, who will now be banned for the Olympics and the next 35 internationals after the NZFA initially don't send in any paperwork about the sending off, and then accidentally send something in that says he probably deserves and that the FIFA official's mum likes it greek style.

Marco - potential broken jaw.

After reading some of our supporters comments last night I reckon there will be one or two that will be quite pleased about that.

We were easily the better team, played some good football too, lacked a bit of luck and finishing touches, but glad that we gotta win out of it.

Some ratings for the game yesterday:
7 Glesson - untested really, looked comfortable
7 Eagar - solid enough
6.5 Musa - solid, but out paced on one occasion
6.5 Hogg - only on for 40mins, did ok.
7 Prattley - created some good opportunities
7.5 Thomas - Made some good runs, defensively not too challenged
8 Hicks - good work rate, creative player.
6.5 Feneridis - nothing stood out, but looked competent
7 McGeorge - Donned the head bandage, led the team well.
8 Fenton - looked the biz against PNG, unlucky not to score.
5.5 Draper - Got himself into good positions, but finishing was off today
4 Lucas - Needs to let his feet do the talking.
7.5 Lovemore - Speedy, nice goal, great sub to bring on.

Red card offences from the LotG:

A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off if he commits any of the
following seven offences:
� serious foul play
� violent conduct
� spitting at an opponent or any other person
� denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity
by deliberately handling the ball (this does not apply to a goalkeeper within
his own penalty area)
� denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity to an opponent moving
towards the player�s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a
penalty kick
� using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures
� receiving a second caution in the same match

Not me, this f**ks us up.   Would have preferred him to have been released by Melbin earlier so he could have played PNG, no look.  Can we qualify without him? 

If we can't then we have massive, massive problems.

Referees at regional level are advised not to take any offensive insinuations or swearing at the referee or official. Straight red.

It annoys me that this isn't implicated at the higher levels.

No sympathy if he did it.

Does not surprise me. He is a sh*t.

1 down through a red card and one down through injury (Marco out), will test the depth of the team

Send them all off

Farken,farken,farken

Recovery period after broken jaw:

But whats an offensive insinuation? Does every person on the face of the planet define this in the same way? And can you type me up a list of all known swear words? No? Exactly. Some people think crap is a swear word, some dont.

And is there a difference between missing a shot on goal and going "oh f**k!"

Hi all,

From what I was able to learn today at the stadium it seems that Dakota Lucas was sent off for:

� using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures

I think the referee deserves to be exonerated in this case but, once again, as somebody pointed out it all comes down to the individual referees interpretation of what is and isn't offensive.

I suspect we all know and understand the raft of swear words that all qualify under that heading. One comment I will make that I think is important to understand is that referees from Fiji and Solomon Islands (some, not all) do come from religious backgrounds, so on the field of play their ears are likely to perk up when they capture profanity of any type and take an immediate and expedient action.

We all saw what happened to Glen Moss a few seasons ago and I believe Dakota Lucas has fallen to the same here. The short cut preventative measure to avoiding a red card for the above offence is to simply not give a referee the rope to hang the offender with.

I have sympathy for Dakota Lucas getting sent off, I think New Zealand is a far better team with him at their disposal than far away from the action serving suspension.

Gordon Glen WatsonMikhailichenko2012-03-18 19:31:12

So does this mean he's only out for one match? 

PNG beat Tonga, frank will be happy.


Men's Olympics Group A Results HomevsAway American Samoa1-7Fiji Solomon Islands0-1Vanuatu

TeamPLPTS Papua New Guinea23 New Zealand13 Tonga10 Men's Olympics Group B Results HomevsAway Papua New Guinea3-0Tonga New Zealand1-0Papua New Guinea

Frank sounded pretty negative after the game with Tonga. Papua New Guinea missed a barrowload of chances, particularly through Jamal Seeto, who eventually got on the scoresheet late on in the piece.

Still, they're a marked improvement on their team from 2008, but I still can't seem them going all the way. Despite New Zealand's indifferent start, you can't look past them taking out the title.

Gordon Glen Watson

and what of Dakota's red card, how many games is he out?

Its safe to say hes out for the next match but this kind of offense usually goes for review, so depending on how offensive it was it could be longer.

Looks like one match. May be able to confirm very shortly.

Gordon Glen Watson

One match.

GGW

That's because at a higher level referee's are instructed to lower their tolerance of what is considered offensive or abusive language. Frankly a player would have to get right up in my face and say something extremely tasty for a red card to come out and there are a number of ways referee's can preemtively avoid this ever happening.

thanks for the info Gordon Glen Watson of OFC

Christoper John Alexander of London....sorry couldnt resist.

Fixed that for you.

Did I read those player ratings right when they implied Adam McGeorge was the captain of this team?

Is it really appropriate that referees in OFC take a stand on this matter when everywhere else in the world it is not even an issue? Yes, it might be the letter of the law but it is inconsistent with refereeing the world over at the highest level in international and professional competitions. This is absolutely small time stuff.

I'd also be willing to bet that the only people sent off for swearing will be those who swear in English.

I don't quite get what you are hinting at. Could you be more clear?

All I am sayign is that I am willing to bet that not all instances of players swearing at other players will result in a red card. james dean2012-03-19 23:15:46

It wouldn't surprise me if Dakota Lucas did more than just swear once.

Foul and abusive language towards the referee should not be tolerated (but I think you have to be clear that it needs to both be foul AND abusive to qualify).

It's even more ridiculous when every week you see the likes of Kewell and Burns clearly swearing at officials in the A-League.

(the swearing, not EGer's captaincy)Hard News2012-03-20 08:20:44

According to the poll on the OFC homepage, more people think Fiji or Vanuatu will win it than think NZ will. Can't say I agree with the voters on this one though

awesome, we're underdogs!  

Game is now on at 2pm today.