The funkiest thing about that 1-0 win over South Korea is that the OlyWhites didn’t even play that well. How many times did you see someone spray a pass out to Libby Cacace’s wing and it end up flying out for a throw-in? Not even joking, it might have reached double figures. And it wasn’t one culprit either. Nando Pijnaker felt like he shanked the most. Gianni Stensness had a few. Clayton Lewis had more than his share. There were heavy touches across the board with a couple Dane Ingham clunkers standing out. Maybe chalk it down to nerves, they definitely got sharper as the game went on, but it was far from a prime performance from these lads. Nowhere near what they’re capable of.

Yet they toppled the expected top team in the group so get that one into ya. Chris Wood negotiating his way into the scorebook after the VAR took a looksee... the OlyWhites were substituting during the stoppage so when the camera cut back to Chris Wood talking to the ref and then breaking into a cheer it took a second to realise what had happened. Shout out to Ben Waine who was off the field when the ball went in the net but on the field as it was awarded, dunno how that goes with the on/off stats but who cares (the Welly Nix outscored teams by +0.82 goals per 90 minutes in Waineo’s 1200 mins last season, fourth best mark on the squad so this is what he does).

Then once they got the lead it was a brilliant defensive closeout effort from the lads, Winston Reid leading the way as Korea pumped the ball into the area and the big kiwi defenders gobbled it all up. Header after header, no dramas there. The only worry was when The Woodsman sconned Reidy and left him with blood spilling from his skull. South Korea had been much more threatening in the first half as they played a quicker, more technical style of footy and Kwon Chang-hoon (one of their overage dudes) had about three decent sights of goal that he wasn’t able to do enough with. But they let themselves down by not finding a tempo of play that could consistently help them. They’d rush early passes that’d be easily picked off or they’d knock the ball around too patiently to break the OlyWhites down. Then they played panicked footy after conceding.

Hence the New Zealand men’s Olympic football team claimed its first ever win at the tournament. A brilliant start to the campaign from a team that we footyheads know has the potential to do something that no men’s football team from Aotearoa has ever achieved before.

But then those dreams took a dark twist a mere two minutes into the clash with Honduras. A game that we had every reason to think we could win, with many of these players having been a part of wins over Honduras at consecutive Under 20 World Cups. Not to mention that Honduras are currently competing in the Gold Cup as well so while there are no U24 players in that squad it did take out a heap of candidates for overage selection. But then came the dark twist. That dark twist being an injury to Winston Reid.

Even if the kiwis had held on and won that game like they should have then Reid’s injury would still have been a vibe-spoiler. The group stage is one thing, we’ve already established that this was a kind draw for the New Zealand men, but any hopes of doing something special in the knockouts surely depended on having Winston Reid (and probably Michael Boxall too) to repel the siege against Japan, Mexico, France, or South Africa in the quarters.

The chances of getting that done with neither of those overage defenders is not particularly worth mentioned, to be honest. It’d still be a massive achievement just to reach a quarter-final but NBA fans know how last season went for those teams whose top players picked up injuries along the way. Tournament team sports are all about attrition. If Reid does indeed miss the rest of the tournament, and with the quick turnarounds between games it’d be a surprise if he didn’t given how he limped off, and Michael Boxall doesn’t emerge from whatever bunker Minnesota United have had him locked in... then we’re probably gonna be left leaving Tokyo with a large What If to ponder.

That’s what we should be panicking over right now. What we ought not to be panicking over: Michael Woud. There’s plenty more about that situation in our latest Substack mailer so have a read of that if you haven’t already. The TLDR of it all is that Woud is an excellent goalie, one bad game does not define him, and dropping him would only make that defence more vulnerable and inexperienced. Woud has a tough personality and he can deal with the pressure. Probably about to have the game of his life next up against Romania.

Also just gonna leave these here. Goal #1... just before half-time. Should have been able to close it out with the narrow lead at this stage but some frantic defending after a couple close shaves invited further pressure and then this positioning was just a mess. Three CBs all marking one striker close enough to hold hands as a trio and then the right wingback defending inside the near post leaving the only man in his area to get a free backpost header up. Woud was slow to get across and got caught out badly, perhaps not realising the danger of the situation, but it was an avoidable drama long before he got involved...

Goal #2, well there’s a fair call to say that this was 90% on George Stanger’s head. He’s the one who calls the keeper up and tries to shield the ball for him rather than putting it into the stands with a 2-1 lead and only about ten minutes remaining. That was a risk... but the shocker of the move was failing to shield the attacker away from the ball. Woud could have been more decisive in coming out but this was a stitch-up for him...

Then Goal #3... again it’s Stanger who finds himself too passive in a key moment. Stands off the bloke, worried about the pace of Rigoberto Rivas most likely, and gets himself in a poor position to defend the shot. He’s facing the wrong way having failed to get close enough to properly challenge the shot. He then gets a little deflection on it that catches Woud out on the bounce, Woud making a mess of it, and that was the 87th minute winner. Gianni Stensness had given the ball away for the counter too. Just dumb stuff from the fellas. Three goals of which you’d think at least two of them would have been comfortably avoided were Winston Reid still out there...

Thus this is the part of the article where we get to the point that the OlyWhites still haven’t played close to their potential. There were plenty more examples of passing being sprayed in the Honduras game. Touches gone astray. Poor decisions being made on the ball. The back three formation has its pros and cons, the ability to spring the wingbacks being one of those pros but a major con is that it gives you one fewer midfield option and ball retention has been a problem throughout these 180 minutes of footy. There are glimpses of incredible stuff but they’re rare. Much rarer than they should be given the luxury of Christopher Wood up front being able to turn glimpses into goals.

It would not be a bad thing were there to be a few changes for the Romania game. Clayton Lewis has struggled to repeat his Wellington Phoenix form, often trying to do too much with his passes rather than keeping it simple. Could be an instruction from Danny Hay to be more expansive but the fact is it’s working far less than its failing. Marko Stamenic is right there on the bench ready to go. Dane Ingham is another who hasn’t yet done it. There are some fantastic attributes to his game and he could have been a hero against Honduras had he been able to set up Chris Wood once or twice. But he didn’t and now Callan Elliot’s probably getting an itchy arse on the bench.

Only a few changes though. Danny Hay may have mentioned that fatigue was an issue with those two late concessions against Honduras and nobody can argue with that at all... unfortunately guys like Wood, Bell, Cacace, Pijnaker, and Stensness cannot be rested. Maybe Just and McCowatt could get away with coming off the bench but even then probably not. A couple wins and we’d have had that opportunity but not after a win and a defeat. South Korea did do us a favour though. A 4-0 win over ten-man Romania means all four teams are on 3 points, and our goal difference is well up on Romania’s. A draw and the expected South Korea win over Honduras would put us through in second. A win will put us through regardless of the other game.

The final whistle of that Honduras game was so surreal, it just didn’t make logical sense that the Aotearoa side had lost. All three goals were avoidable compared to two stunners that we put away. There was a 2-1 lead with quarter of an hour to play and as shaky as we did look in defence there were chances to put it away with a third goal. It always felt like they’d need another one but whether it was the tiredness or just an abundance of caution they didn’t push on like they should have. Meanwhile Honduras created heaps in that second half as they were allowed to keep on pushing forward. Another example of things not quite clicking, not quite at full capacity.

Some of this has to fall on Danny Hay’s shoulders. Definitely the decision not to cut out the risk and replace Michael Boxall (presumably with Tim Payne) when it was still possible. That’s looking pretty bloody dumb right about now considering a Winston Reid injury is only ever around the next corner. But the potential of a Reid injury is one thing, him actually getting injured in reality is nobody’s fault. It’s just bad luck. The overly defensive set-up is on Hay although to be fair it worked out fine in the first game, didn’t it? Avoid a couple silly goals and hold on to a 2-1 win and nobody would be complaining after Honduras either. And it’s not the coach’s fault that there are so many bobbled touches and shanked passes.

Yet here we are one win away from the knockout rounds, up against a Romania team that’s coming off a 4-0 defeat. They weren’t able to bring any overage players along and the squad they ended up with is pretty different to the group that qualified beating England along the way. Plus one dude’s gonna be suspended after the red card. There’s been disappointing stuff in both games from New Zealand but cancel that all out and what an opportunity we’ve got against Romania. One win against a vulnerable opponent and it’s knockout football in a major men’s tournament. Imagine that!

Also no matter what else happens, the two goals against Honduras were magical. The second one started on the right edge of defence with Ingham and Stensness combining. Lewis then picked up the pass and fed it to Cacace who hit Just on the run and his cross was inch perfect to split goalie and defender and allow The Woodsman to do what he does best. From right back to left wing. Incredible silky football, completely joyful to witness.

As for the first goal from Liberato Cacace, aka Liberto Carlos... it was quite simply the greatest goal ever scored by anyone in the history of the game...

Liberto Carlos #EarnTheFern pic.twitter.com/GwujM25EpJ
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) July 25, 2021

For real, that goal is going to be front and centre of any highlights package with his name on it. He’s already had confirmed interest from Juventus (and from a Spanish club or two) and you can guarantee that any player under the age of like 23 who is starting regularly in a top ten European league has name recognition amongst most top scouts out there. No lies: a goal like this probably adds multiple millions of dollars to his next transfer fee. Plus of course it’s another Great Olympic Moment.

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