All Whites WCQ Quest: A 4-0 Win Over Fiji In Which Chris Wood Did The Inevitable
The theme of game one’s article was not to worry about anything other than the three points... and game two showed exactly why. Chuck Chris Wood and Marko Stamenic into the pot and it’s an entirely different stew. A focal point at the top, a ball-winner and orchestrator in the middle – with Winston Reid already bossing proceedings in defence – and *shock-horror* the All Whites were way more fluent against Fiji than they were against Papua New Guinea. A fact that was dutifully reflected in the result.
Chris Wood deservedly got the headlines for his record-breaking brace which took him past Vaughan Coveny to become the All Whites’ all-time leading goal scorer. A fitting reward for a wonderful servant and outstanding player. Plenty more where that came from too... though let’s be honest this record was kinda inevitable and if you’ve been reading these TNC yarns then you know that the one we really oughta get pumped over is Ivan Vicelich’s appearance record which is also within reach of The Woodsman if he keeps reporting for duty as he always has done.
Needs to be said, same as with his Newcastle stuff, Wood’s raw goal scoring is not the most important thing he offers the All Whites. It’s the gravitational presence that he has up front, the confidence and direction that he offers to those around him, and the way in which he almost seems to drag his team further up the park. Not to be stink to Andre De Jong because nobody can do what Wood does for the All Whites... but the difference was huge with Woodsy there this game.
Although to be fair it is a little more about his goals for the All Whites than it is for Newcastle. That’s because the All Whites don’t have many people who can provide those suckers. The dude has scored six times in his last five matches. Nobody else has yet scored more than once under Danny Hay’s coaching. Wood has six of the 12 goals scored this regime (and he didn’t even play in two of the eight games).
Massive from the big fella... who didn’t even play that well against Fiji. On a more ruthless day he might have had six goals such were some of the chances that he spurned. Wood joked afterwards that Danny Hay has to try and hold him back sometimes and he might have to again if he’s going to be at his best in the knockouts. Wood had showed a bit of fatigue in his last couple Newcastle matches and this was another quick turnaround for a guy who played every minute of five games within 20 days for his club prior to this international tour. Makes sense that he’d be dragging his heels a bit. Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t feature in game three with the All Whites already guaranteed through to the semis. Would imagine Winston Reid is in the same boat – both were subbed late against Fiji.
Wood was one of seven changes from the PNG match. The only dudes to retain their spots: Clayton Lewis, Oli Sail, Kosta Barbarouses, and Winston Reid. Ben Waine also got promoted to the XI after a goal on debut. Again, prominent minutes for the A-League guys before they head back to their clubs; the Haymaker making use of them while they’re around and keeping others fresh for later in the competition. One other significant difference was that for the first time Danny Hay (or Darren Hay as these telly commentators keep calling him for some reason) started a game with a back three.
Tommy Smith in between Reid and Nando Pijnaker. Not really sure of the need for that in a game like this, perhaps cover against the pace of Roy Krishna, but the important thing is that back threes can go either way and in this instance it meant free licence for the wingbacks to get as high as possible. Red-eyed and light-headed degrees of high. Unicorns and hobbits. Not quite high enough to hear the voice of God but close enough.
Those wingbacks, both switched from last time, were Francis De Vries on the left and Niko Kirwan on the right. Both combined really well with their wingers throughout the game in a 3-4-3 kinda shape. Ben Waine on the left in the first half, Eli Just replacing him in the second. Kosta Barbarouses on the right. Plus you had Clayton Lewis in particular pinging inch-perfect switches and all of that led to cross after cross from the wide areas.
It’d be boring to start listing all the chances that the All Whites created because there were plenty. Not only from open play but also their set pieces looked savage with Clayton Lewis carrying on his recent Welly Nix trend of absolutely wicked corner kick and free kick deliveries. Chris Wood probably should have had a 20 minute hat-trick but instead we were 45 minutes deep when he finally put one away. Needless to say it was a header from a stunner Clayton set piece cross.
Gutting for Fiji, who at times looked like they were rolling with a back six trying to withstand things, their wingers dropping in to augment the back four and protect against the doubling wingbacks/wingers. So close to getting through to the half unscathed but they didn’t quite make it.
Eli Just then came on at the break and his unmatched link-up play was on full display the rest of the way. It wasn’t quite floodgates – in fact Fiji had a really good spell of about 10 minutes in there that was better than anything that PNG had managed against the All Whites the other day. But eventually Just slammed in his first senior international goal (lovely turn and finish) and two minutes later The Woodsman broke the record with his second of the day. Almost looked like palpable relief on his face as much as anything.
Then right at the end Clayton Lewis scored from the penalty spot. It was something of a phantom spottie to be fair, awarded as the Fiji keeper Mohammed Alam left a foot up when claiming a high ball against Logan Rogerson, clipping a few sprigs into Rog’s armpit. No doubt painful but also indirect and pretty harsh. Not that it had an effect on the outcome. Lewis was cool, calm, and collected in joining Eli Just with a maiden All Whites goal. Worth mentioning that he missed a penalty in the Olympic quarter-final shootout loss to Japan so extra pakipaki for a) stepping up again, and b) burying that bugger.
Lewis had a really strong game. Both midfielders did. There were only two of them here compared to the usual three but with the wingers and wing-backs bossing the wide areas that allowed Lewis and Stamenic to basically do their best Steven Adams impersonations: hanging around and claiming the offensive rebounds. They were picking up loose balls, winning tackles, diverting counter attacks... and then picking out clever passes, while Stamenic also had a couple half decent shots including one off the post.
Lewis was good against PNG but he was great against Fiji because he wasn’t having to be the main man. He was Robin rather than Batman... which sounds like a backhanded compliment but it’s not meant that way. Lewis is not a first XI All Whites player whereas Stamenic probably is (hard to say how you squeeze Singh/Thomas/Bell/Stamenic all into the same team but it is a proper conversation... and first XI line-ups in international footy are rare anyway, depth is key). Marko doesn’t quite get the same adoration as the others there but that’s only because his club career hasn’t blossomed yet. But it will. Dude’s a marvel. And with him doing his thing it allowed Lewis to do his thing and resulted in one of Clay’s best ever All Whites performances IMO. Still fully agree with Stamenic as the MOM though.
Didn’t see a lot of Roy Krishna. He got booked for dissent at one point and there was a blocked shot during that decent Fijian attacking spell. Credit to a controlling All Whites performance that shut the danger man out of the game. Fun fact: this was Tommy Smith’s first start under Danny Hay but he’s the only guy to have featured in every game of Hay’s tenure. Smithy’s up to 44 caps now - only Barbarouses and Wood have more within the current crop. No longer near first choice but still clearly a valuable presence within the squad with his experience and leadership. Not sure he’s ever quite gotten the credit he deserves.
What else is there... Nando Pijnaker’s passing range is immense. He does shank a few now and then, still working out the kinks, but the ability is massive from a big fella who also dominates in the challenge as well as being deceptively athletic. And, finally, he’s getting a chance at club level. An instant success at Sligo Rovers in Ireland, check out the last few weeks of Flying Kiwis for the receipts.
Interesting to see Nando claim in a recent Irish interview that he reckons the Olympics cost him a chance to crack it at Rio Ave (though he also said he wouldn’t have traded that experience for anything). Well, he’s at Sligo Rovers for the full season so he’ll miss next preseason too. But that’s all good, he’s been outstanding for Sligo and he carried that form and confidence into this match.
Two caps and two clean sheets for Oli Sail. He only really had one save to make but he took care of business there... now that he’s been integrated into the group it’s hard to imagine how he hasn’t moved up into the top three on the depth chart. Nik Tzanev unfortunately let that one slip. Guys like Matt Gould and Max Crocombe aren’t playing at particularly high levels. Jamie Searle and Alex Paulsen are still young. It’s a no doubter. The real question is where he stands in relation to Stefan Marinovic and Michael Woud. Woud is the youngest and most naturally talented of the trio but has fumbled the bag once or twice recently. It’s a conversation.
Game three is against New Caledonia at 6am on Friday. The lads are already through to the next round and a draw would be enough to guarantee what’s already an overwhelmingly likely first place finish in the group. The A-League guys have headed back to Oz so there’ll be at least four changes to the line-up and probably more because, again, if Reid and Wood are to be rested at any stage in this campaign then this is the game.
The rest of the squad has arrived now. Libby Cacace, Joe Bell, Stefan Mariovic, Alex Greive, etc. Plenty of options. New Caledonia have lost close games to each of the teams that the AW’s have beaten so even with a rotated team they should still have the goods. But keep in mind that this game will be the pause for breath before the semis and final.
Support our work with a nudge on our Patreon page if you reckon we deserve it
Also whack an ad, sign up to our Substack, and tell your mates about us
Keep cool but care