All Whites WCQ Quest: 7-1 vs New Caledonia, Moving Up The Gears
Imagine being New Caledonia coach Dominique Wacalie. There’s twenty minutes to go in your game against New Zealand, the lads have served up a pretty commendable account of themselves to have things at 3-1. Jean-Philippe Saiko’s goal was the first that the All Whites have conceded this tournament. You’re on the sideline barking instructions and then the ball goes out of play, there’s a quick blast of the ref’s whistle, and you turn to see this...
A quadruple substitution with Chris Wood, Joe Bell, Liberato Cacace, and Bill Tuiloma all entering the game at once. It’s not even fair. Bell immediately took control of the midfield. Wood scored twice pretty much at will. Tuiloma also popped up with a goal. Cacace made all sorts of tracks up the left wing. 3-1 with twenty to play very quickly became 7-1 at the final whistle as the All Whites roared to their biggest win since 2004 (a 10-0 win over Tahiti in which Vaughan Coveny scored a hatty and Ryan Nelsen got a couple).
Not that Danny Hay was trying to run up the score or anything. Bell, Cacace, and Tuiloma hadn’t featured yet in this tournament and you want them to at least get a taste of things before the semi-final. With World Cup qualification progress on the line this is not the place for cutting corners. As for Chris Wood... you get the feeling that it was part of his volunteer hostage negotiations. In order to agree to being rested for this otherwise meaningless final group stage fixture the coach had to promise Woodsy twenty minutes at the end. Something like that.
Boy’s after that cap record after all. He went past Vaughan Coveny’s goals record earlier this tournament and if he plays both the semi and the final – which barring injury he absolutely will – then he’ll pass him for third all-time on that appearance list too. Wood’s at 63 and counting right now. Simon Elliott (69) and Ivan Vicelich (88) are the remaining targets.
After a couple clean sheet wins already, this New Caledonia match was the one in which to rest a few blokes. Danny Hay has been able to spread the minutes nicely throughout his squad thanks to the A-League regiment’s early service. With a semi and final to come in quick succession (all things going to plan) there were always going to be some changes. Nine of them, in fact. Tommy Smith and Francis De Vries the only jerries to keep their place from the Fiji game. Jamie Searle was given a debut in goal. Alex Greive got his maiden start. Tim Payne made his first appearance of the tournament. Nikko Boxall partnered Smith at CB for the ninth unique combination in that position under Danny Hay (reverting to a back four here after the three vs Fiji). Callum McCowatt played in the Sarpreet Singh attacking mid role. All them changes and still a very strong team.
They made a great start too. Began really fast, Tim Payne heavily involved. Lots of possession. Then Matt Garbett slid Joey Champness into some space on the right wing, where after an obligatory stepover or two JOWIC slid a fine low cross in for Alex Greive to score. Hunting around the six yard box as AG’s so good at. Sneaky decent finish too getting that standing leg out of the way.
That goal went in after six minutes. Former Tasman United striker Jean-Philippe Saiko hit one back on 13 minutes. A New Caledonia corner kick had been cleared away but the first time cross back in from Joris Kenon was gorgeous and the header from JPS was pretty much as perfect as it was possible to be from that scenario. He was moving away from goal and still got mad power on it. Can’t blame Tim Payne who did all he could in challenging the header. Might say that Jamie Searle could have gotten a hand on it, perhaps Oli Sail or Stefan Marinovic would have done so. Dunno. But it was a superb header.
Conceding a goal took some of the wind out of the All Whites sails... but Alex Greive huffed and puffed it back in later in the half. First with a clever turn in the area to win a no-doubter penalty on 36’. Just as the question emerged as to who might take it – maybe McCowatt? Greive himself? Howieson? - AG reflexively tossed the ball to Logan Rogerson which suggested they’d already comprehensively decided the hierarchy. Chris Wood is taking them if he’s out there, no question. But Clayton Lewis took one against Fiji while Rogerson was out there so the list goes at least three deep. Rogerson dispatched it calmly for his first senior international goal.
Then ten minutes later, in stoppage time, an NCL defender slipped trying to deal with a long ball from Tommy Smith and Greive graciously ran onto it to score. He’s had an incredible 2022 joining St Mirren and immediately impressing for them and then making his All Whites debut and now here he was bagging two goals and an assist in the first half of his first start. His momentum has stalled a bit at St Mirren as a new manager has come in as well as a couple other strikers returning to fitness whose absence he’d been benefiting from... but make no mistake this dude is a baller. He’s such an active player. Super fit, great movement, keeps himself constantly alert. There’s a reason he seems to keep popping up in the right place at the right time.
Here’s a stat for ya, Alex Greive is now the first active St Mirren to score an international goal since Þórólfur ‘Thor’ Beck for did so for Iceland in 1964. That’s a 58-year drought shattered with a singly classy heel-flick.
Greive had a massive impact at centre forward which was something Andre De Jong wasn’t able to do in his start against PNG. There’s room for both in a full strength squad given they both cover other areas, which is helpful because minutes as the backup to Chris Wood are going to be rare. So it doesn’t have to be a competition. But Greive did lay down the gauntlet with this performance, for sure.
And then De Jong picked it up and drank from it because he was subbed on (for Champness) in the second half and responded with a goal and two assists of his own. ADJ played left-wing rather than CF and was lurking to tap in after Chris Wood had a shot saved and then fed Wood with lovely deliveries for each of The Woodsman’s brace of bangers. One a nicely weighted through ball with the NCL defence caught playing too vertical, the other a delicious outside of the boot cross for a header. When you then add in Wood’s perspective for those two goals plus ADJ’s one it was a hell of a day for kiwi striking depth. All three with three goal involvements.
Bill Tuiloma’s goal will be overshadowed by all that yet we’ve still gotta mention that Tui has developed into a pretty useful goal scorer himself. It’s no fluke when you see him popping up on the end of a set piece and putting one away... in fact he’s got a burgeoning habit of scoring directly from free kicks too. His two international goals have come in his last three caps. Scored the winner the other week for Portland Timbers. Billy T knows where the goal is, don’t worry about that.
The Rogerson/Champness wing duo was a funky one. Two guys with immense speed and skill but also two guys who can be kinda inefficient/inconsistent. That’s the players that they are though, no need to bring unrealistic expectations into the mix. Give them plenty of ball and if they get tackled or slice a cross out for a goal kick then know you’re one move closer to the one that clicks.
Rogerson scored that penalty. Champness set up the first goal. The second half was quieter from each before they were both subbed off but so it goes. That pair occupy an important spot within the squad as genuine wingers who play direct and with pace. You absolutely need to have those points of difference... plus also dudes like that are just so much fun to watch. Rogerson is one of four players to have featured in all three games along with Smith, Boxall, and Garbett.
Hard to take too much more from a game like that. Did get the feeling late on that the fellas were being a bit too deferential to Chris Wood, trying to set him up rather than shooting. Libby Cacace had one instance in particular. Guess that shows you that Woodsy is as beloved inside the group as he is outside it so that’s nice.
Next up is Tahiti in the semis. Tahiti lost 3-1 to the Solomon Islands this morning, former Welly Nix youther Raphael Lea’i with a hat-trick, in what was their only game of the competition so far. First two games both cancelled as Vanuatu and Cook Islands dealt with covid outbreaks. Means that Tahiti effectively had a bye through to the semis so that’s something to keep in mind on Monday morning at 6.30am when that match kicks off. The winner of that will face either Papua New Guinea or Solomon Islands.
In theory, we’ll probably see the first eleven roll out for both these two remaining games, maybe with one or two exceptions in a couple positions. What that looks like... we shall see. At a guess let’s go with Stefan Marinovic in goal. Libby Cacace at left-back. Potentially Niko Kirwan and Tim Payne alternating a game each at right back. Winston Reid and Nando Pijanker at CB. A midfield trio or Joe Bell, Marko Stamenic, and Matt Garbett. Might see Garbs rested for the semi since he’s already played a lot this tournament. The likes of McCowatt/Just/ADJ can all play CAM so no worries there. McCowatt did so in this very NCL game. And up front it’s Chris Wood surrounded by... take your pick from: Just, McCowatt, Greive, Rogerson, Champness, De Jong (that list is my expected order but that doesn’t mean anything).
Oh yeah and Chris Wood has now scored 8 goals in his last 6 internationals. And the team as a whole have scored 12 goals in the first three games of this OFC thing which is already two more than Anthony Hudson’s lot managed in five Nations Cup games back in 2016. The difference between that and this is... substantial.
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