New Zealand 1-2 Portugal

Hands up who thought we’d get thrashed.

Yeah, probably most people. But instead of folding at the biggest challenge this team would face, they rose to the occasion with their best performance of the tournament. No, they didn’t outplay Portugal. Nor did they really deserve to take it to extra time, as they so nearly did. But this New Zealand team is made up largely of home-based players. We’d never won a match at this level prior to beating up on Myanmar, while Portugal is loaded with players who’ll soon be regulars in top European leagues for the next decade. Players who’ll play in Champions Leagues and represent their country at senior World Cups. We aren’t supposed to be able to compete with a team like that, yet somehow we did.

The first step towards that performance was a clever formation change from Coach Darren Bazeley. He could easily have settled for the system that got us where it did, but credit to him, he’s never hesitated to make a change for the betterment of the team from day one. The 4-2-3-1 thing was gone, in favour of a more realistic 5-3-2 – realistic in that this formation acknowledged the threat we’d be under defensively from the very start.

But it also allowed certain players to flourish. Deklan Wynne and Andrew Blake had more license to get forward as wing-backs rather than as fullbacks, while Bill Tuiloma had the extra defensive support that provided the freedom to step forward out of the backline, especially to pick off Portuguese passes. And Alex Rufer still struggled on occasion with his touch and his decision making however playing with another forward (Noah Billingsley) up beside him meant he had more chance to roam. He worked harder than he has all Cup.

To accommodate another centre-back spot, in came Cory Brown, while Nik Tsanev and his man-bun remained in goal. Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi held his midfield spot and Clayton Lewis dropped out with suspension – though he may not have fitted into this system anyway.

It’s a tough game to write about, because it defied most logical boundaries. New Zealand were not the better team, not by a long stretch. Yet they over-performed enormously while Portugal were a little off the pace despite completely running the play.

But from the start you could see that this was no a simple tie. New Zealand set up more defensively before, yet they didn’t hesitate at all to punt a few searching balls over the top just to test things out. Portugal were the side pressing and threatening, but for the first while New Zealand were able to send back any queries of their defence. Bill Tuiloma made a couple of superb headers. Still, it felt like the Portuguese would score the first real chance they got, this is a team that built their group success on controlling games without a mass of chances and instead being clinical with the ones they got.

That didn’t quite happen, the first clear shot that Portugal had came up fruitless (Man City’s Rony Lopes shooting wide), but they did score with the second one. Raphael Guzzo picked up the ball in the box and dropped a shoulder, sending his marker (Moses Dyer) tumbling to the floor and Guzzo slammed his shot into the far bottom corner. 1-0 down, but not a bad time to concede, actually. 25 minutes in and Portugal had started to seem indomitable but they cooled off after their goal. And New Zealand, by then, had had enough time to find their footing in the game. It wasn’t like the American game, where they let in the first goal before they’d been able to get any confidence.

Andre Silva missed a great chance soon after. Portugal’s top striker with 4 goals in 3 group games, he was conspicuously bad in this game. Monty Patterson had a shot to remind everyone not to write us off, and the kiwis held out ‘til the break. Possession-wise, the Europeans were dominating easily, but there were glimpses of the type of stuff that New Zealand had been touting. Some slick passing moves, often halted by poor touches though enough to show that the mindset wasn’t entirely defensive. The fullbacks worked extremely hard to be an option on both ends of the park. And the stuff in and around the box between Billingsley, Patterson and Rufer was lively and exciting.

So it wasn’t a complete shock that we came out for the second half and started pushing the issue. Some sustained periods of attack, albeit nothing really that should have been scored. Andre Silva headed one over the bar at the other end that should have at least been on target, before he then fluffed on a scissor-kick.

And all of a sudden, New Zealand made them pay for their profligacy. In a scrappy way but you take ‘em how you get ‘em. Patterson jinking around, the ball ending up at substitute Stuart Holthusen’s feet and he buried it. A game that felt like a close but tame loss became something entirely other. New Zealand truly believed for the first time, they had 25 minutes to hold out or score a winner.

That didn’t happen. As the game passed by and the clock ticked over so agonisingly slowly, Portugal regathered themselves and went all out on attack. The kiwis tired… in fact they looked exhausted. Soon they were made to pay for that. Gelston Martins skipping past a pair of fatigued markers before curling the ball in with the outside of his right boot. A fantastic goal, coming in injury time, to break the hearts of the hosts, though to be fair with the way the game was going, extra time could have gotten ugly. New Zealand fell late but they fell valiantly. A wonderful performance that shows we can compete with some of the best in the world. A successful and historic campaign.

The Highlights:

GOOOOOOAL!!!

The Moment:

Not the late winner for Portugal, the one that mattered most was the one directly above. The New Zealand goal. Monty ‘Python’ Patterson with some slippery stuff on the edge of the box, he tries to run through but slips, distracting the defender, and the ball falls for Stuart Holtusen behind him. Lightning Holt takes a touch to steady himself and slides the ball beneath the keeper.

This was the moment that made a nation, for a short while, believe that anything might be possible in a game of football. The moment that showed that heart and determination can match it with any amount of money and pedigree. The moment that showed there’s no such thing as false hope. We didn’t need to win the game to prove that, we just needed to show that in some alternate universe, we might have. Next time that might be our universe.

The Lads:

“This performance won’t be forgotten in New Zealand for quite some time. I think we gave the people who came to watch us something to shout about.” – Darren Bazeley

“I’m very proud of the side and to have led them during the tournament. I want to thank the people who came to see us and our families and friends, because none of this would have happened without them.” – Bill Tuiloma

Shot, Bro:

Who else could it possibly be but Bill Tuiloma? What a performance, leading from the front as captain (and from the back as a defender). Go on and try find a header he couldn’t win. Consider it a dare, it cannot be done. Not to mention his composure, his silky first touch and his ability to flawlessly transition from defending into possession. He was a tier above in this game, footing it with the talented Portuguese like he does this for a living. Which he does.

Sort It Out, Mate:

He’s from the other team, so this is sorta cheating, but the Junior All Whites’ task was definitely made easier by a poor showing from Andre Silva, the Portuguese number nine. He’s their star guy on attack, but was off the pace, maybe coz Billy had him in his pocket, maybe it just wasn’t his day. Heading over the bar at 1-0 from inside the six yard box was pretty slack, as was his general lack of other chances. Trying an acrobatic volley at one stage was kinda dumb too, when it seemed he had space to control and shoot in a more orthodox fashion.

On our side, seeing both Moses Dyer and Cory Brown beaten back to back for the final goal was frustrating. Both got sold by dummies, leaping and twisting to block a shot that was never coming. It was tired and naïve defence, but more understandable after almost 87 minutes of exhausting football. And, again, a Portuguese screamer was never more than a kick away at any stage.

New Zealand’s Best At NZ2015

1. Bill Tuiloma
2. Sam Brotherton
3. Noah Billingsley
4. Monty Patterson
5. Deklan Wynne​