The All Whites in North America: Setting the Benchmark
Following a disappointing performance in a 3-0 loss to Mexico, there were many valid questions bouncing around about the All Whites. Are we seeing enough progress from this team? Where are the goals supposed to come from? Why can’t they get Chris Wood more involved? Are our expectations simply too high? What would be realistic expectations for a football team from lil’ old New Zealand? Are we straying too far from our past defensive battler identity? Are we too reliant on a few key players? How much of this should fall on the shoulders of coach Darren Bazeley?
Then came a 1-1 draw against the United States and suddenly the forecast is sunny again. We scored a goal. There was a much more cohesive team performance. There was even a result to show for it. Bazeley picked a strong team and made good substitutions. Okay, Ben Waine’s late equaliser was more than a bit of a fluke... but Waine seems to have that tendency about him. Nobody could ever design a goal that involved a defender kicking the ball into Waine’s face and the ball then looping over the keeper and into the net to square the game after 89 minutes but, let’s be fair, Waine did put himself in that position by chasing hard and applying pressure. And the All Whites put themselves in a position to earn a draw thanks to how they played throughout the contest.
Even if they’d lost that game 1-0 then they’d still have been able to walk off the pitch feeling like they put in a strong effort. It takes some fortune to snap a result as an underdog. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don’t. The difference is that they way they played against Mexico gave them no room for lucky breaks whereas the way they played against the USA did leave a crack in the door for something funky to happen. Since this happened to be one of the blessed days where an 89th minute falcon equaliser went their way, the lads get to bank probably the best result of the Darren Bazeley era to date, offering genuine evidence that the things this team already believes – that they are good enough to compete against anyone on their day – aren’t so far from the truth. The trick now is to try and repeat that performance consistently. Don’t treat it as the peak, treat it as the benchmark to emulate every time they step on the pitch with a Fern on their chest.
The Mexico Game
Got to breeze through the bad one to get to the good one though. On Saturday afternoon local time it was New Zealand vs Mexico at the Rose Bowl in California. That’s a huge stadium. Seats up to 90k. So while the stands may have looked relatively empty, they still managed to sell over 25,000 tickets (almost all of them to Mexican fans, obviously) which gave the match a raucous and vibrant atmosphere. Mexican boxing icon Canelo Alvarez helped with some of the formalities – he’s promoting his latest world title bout but he also just seems to be a hearty football fan and even gave the Mexicans a bit of a pep-talk back in the changing sheds. The skies were blue. The sun was shining. Almost too much sun in fact, with temperatures soaring and cooling breaks required in each half. That can’t have helped the All Whites either but the occasion was awesome just the same.
Unfortunately the kiwis didn’t turn up anything like what they’re capable of. Max Crocombe was given the start in goal, as expected. He fluffed one that he probably should have saved after only five minutes, gifting Orbelin Pineda a goal and allowing Mexico to settle into full control from the get-go. Crocombe would later make up for that error with a few top notch saves but the damage had been done. Against a far more renowned team, you need to keep things close for as long as possible yet Bazeley’s boys were 1-0 down before the first sip of cerveza.
The AWs were able to win some decent ball in the midfield but generally that ball then went back again: either cautiously passed back to the defence or carelessly gifted back to Mexico. Not a lot of progressions going on. Chris Wood played 70 minutes and touched the ball a mere 14 times. That’d be low for a Premier League game but for the national team, where he’s not just one of many but the shining beacon key player... that’s kinda inexcusable. The closest they came to a goal in the first half was a salmon flop from Tommy Smith where he couldn’t quite get his head on a loose one at the back post.
Tim Payne and Liberato Cacace were the fullbacks and Cacace did have his moments. He always does. But the veteran centre-back duo of Michael Boxall (captaining the side for his 50th cap) and Tommy Smith was getting dragged around by the rapid Mexico attacking patterns. Perhaps Smithy only started because Tyler Bindon was unavailable, dunno. Baze did seem to make sure all the CBs got opportunities on this tour. But, like, forget about Auckland FC preseason: Smith has only made five competitive club starts in all of 2024. It was rough and he’d get caught slightly out of position as Mexico finally scored their second early in the second half via Cesar Huerta (53’). Then a third came straight afterwards when Luis Romo’s shot deflected in off Cacace (57’).
The best stuff from the New Zealanders came after they were already 3-0 down and the teams had both made wholesale substitutions. Too late to matter (and with nothing substantial to show for it anyway). Wood was quiet up front but Ben Old and Kosta Barbarouses didn’t really do much on the wings either. The midfield trio of Matt Garbett, Marko Stamenić, and Joe Bell were okay but are all capable of better. It just wasn’t a very cohesive, energetic, or creative showing from the NZers. Which, annoyingly, seems to fit a recurring pattern with All Whites games:
Hardly any shots or notable chances
Libby Cacace a rare bright spark
Chris Wood not involved enough or not getting good enough service
A defensive error leading to a goal conceded (or two)
A few tidy spells of play near the end with the result already gone
Mexico are a superb team. They were bringing in a new head coach but in fairness this is Javier Aguirre’s third stint in charge so it’s nothing too unusual (his assistant is Rafa Marquez who was his captain at the 2010 World Cup). Yes, Mexico have slumped a little in recent years. They went out at the group stage of the last World Cup and similarly disappointed as a guest team at Copa America earlier this year – as did USA, with both of these North American teams sacking their coaches following early exits in the South American championships. But there’s no comparison between Mexico and New Zealand in footballing terms. Their times of crisis would be our greatest ever achievements. Losing to them is nothing to be ashamed of. The downbuzz vibe was because the performance felt so lacking in ideas, so lacking in energy, so lacking in confidence. Thus leading to the flurry of pondering questions from way back in paragraph one.
The USA Game
Chris Wood did a little media work in between games and he basically summed up how everyone was feeling after that disappointing first outing:
“In international games, you have to turn up first, before you earn the right to play. Unfortunately we didn’t turn up the way we should have, for whatever reason. We have spoken about what we can do to change it but we need to first apply ourselves right. We weren’t at the level that we hold ourselves to and it is right we take the brunt of it and try to go again and become better. There is no shying away from it: we were 5 or 10% off and Mexico punished us. We need to make sure we do what we can right and better than the other day or else we’ll get steamrolled again.”
Wise words from the skipper because that’s all it takes: 5-10% off the game and it’s already gone. That could be heat, it could be the pitch, it could be jetlag, form, confidence, selections, coaching, all sorts. There are hundreds of excuses and the job is to avoid them. Against the USA in their second match of the window they did exactly what The Woodsman demanded.
While the Americans did have two-thirds of possession, they didn’t create nearly as many clear chances as the Mexicans did (Mexico also struck the woodwork twice to go with their three goals). A centre-back swap that promoted Finn Surman and Nando Pijnaker seemed to put some juice into the backline. A more conservative midfield set saw Alex Rufer picked alongside Joe Bell with Marko Stamenic playing as the attacking mid – while Matt Garbett and Elijah Just had roaming roles on the wings. Four changes in personnel. All sorts of changes in attitude.
Rufer effectively came in for Ben Old and talent-wise that’s a downgrade. But Rufer knew how to play his role effectively and he did so, hustling away and disrupting what America were aiming for. Bell and especially Stamenić still outshone him in that midfield but that’s fine, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Rufer’s pragmatism (including taking a voluntary yellow card to stop a counter attack in the first half) helped spark the return of the grittiness that the All Whites lacked against Mexico and which, to be honest, hasn’t been there often enough from this set of players even though they’ve all proved they have it.
Ideally it would be Sarpreet Singh as the number ten... but in his absence Marko Stamenić absolutely bossed it against America. He’s strong on the ball and can retain it under pressure, plus he has heaps of range to his passing. You also saw his awareness in being able to drop back in cover so that Bell or Rufer could step forwards when the opportunity arose. His presence meant the All Whites were simply better in possession. They had less of the ball than against Mexico but did more with it.
There was a fortunate moment when USA thought they’d scored after 19 minutes (Ricardo Pepi converting their first proper chance) but the officials came to the rescue by awarding a free kick for a foul on Cacace. The disallowed goal led to a spell of USA dominance that lasted most of the rest of the half yet the AWs held firm. America had a couple of tidy passages (including Pepi’s non-goal) where they’d hit the striker’s feet with back to goal and then quickly bounce off him. Those patterns were always dangerous. They also had a bunch of wasted crosses that Surman and Pijnaker gobbled up. Crocombe produced a couple of spectacular saves to further justify his selection ahead of Alex Paulsen.
With American knocking on the door, the All Whites were able to whip up a few slick counter attacks so chucking Ben Old into that scenario after 65 minutes with the game still tied felt like perfect timing. Unfortunately, Bill Tuiloma didn’t close down Christian Pulisic quickly enough on 67’ and the AC Milan forward expertly picked out that bottom corner for 1-0.
Big bummer for the All Whites but full credit because they kept at it. Ben Waine replaced Woodsy for some fresh legs. Kosta Barbarouses and Logan Rogerson offered pace later on. Old nearly got a touch on a low cross from Tuiloma. Then the freaky-deaky equaliser happened. Long ball from Pijnaker. Bad touch from Rogerson. Worse header from USA defender. Clearance from second USA defender into the face of Waine. Up and over and 1-1.
The All Whites lads even threw a few numbers forward in stoppage time to see if they could find a winner. It was notable that nobody really celebrated at the final whistle. There was a sense of satisfaction but definitely not celebration. They know there’s more to come. Still, it was a job well done against the USA. FIFA rankings are dumb but regardless if the 94th ranked team is drawing with the 16th ranked team then that’s significant.
Roughly thirty minutes prior to kickoff, Mauricio Pochettino was announced as the new USMNT head coach – as had been widely expected for a few weeks. Strangely, both USA national team coaches are now ex-Chelsea bosses. Apparently Poch was there in the crowd to watch this match but no word on whether he’s having any second thoughts. This American team has been struggling for a wee while, having also lost 2-1 to Canada earlier in the window (Canada and Mexico drew 0-0 while USA played NZ). Pochettino is a big name hire that very much fits the usual USA mentality... though whether he’s tactically or culturally a good fit is a whole other thing. But that’s their problem.
Chris Wood and Matt Turner (USA keeper) were having a long yarn after the final whistle. They were teammates at Nottingham Forest until Turner was loaned to Crystal Palace recently so they know each other well... perhaps Woodsy was feeding him tips on how to speak to the media after a subpar performance. Turner’s lines involved a lack of “killer instinct in the final third” and “a freak goal” which “sort of sums up sort of where the programme is right now”. It’s also true that the crowd in Cincinnati was only 15,711... nearly 10k less than what Mexico drew vs NZ in Los Angeles. Admittedly this was a Tuesday night match for a USA side trying to avoid a fourth-straight defeat but the All Whites drew nearly three times that to Winston Reid’s last game vs Australia two years ago. That’s for a population of 5mill compared to 300mill.
Consistency Is Key
This article began with a whole bunch of questions. The only question that’s lingering now after the USA performance is why it required a dud game against Mexico to produce a good one against America? The response was outstanding but it would saved a lot of panic if we’d seen that level in both games. Again, this needs to be the benchmark, not the high-watermark.
This seems to be a pattern under Darren Bazeley. His first tour in charge was at home against China. First game was a dull 0-0 outing in which Tommy Smith got a red card and the AWs struggled to create much while playing with an overly defensive formation. The thing about Baze is that he’s never been afraid to make game-to-game adjustments so for the second match against China he tweaked the shape and swapped around a couple players and the fellas were much better on their way to a 2-1 victory (still the only win against non-OFC teams under Baze but hopefully that’ll change against Malaysia next month).
His second tour began with a disappointing 4-1 loss to Sweden in which we were outmatched and outplayed. But that was followed by a very tidy display against Qatar where Aotearoa was leading 1-0 at half-time when the match was abandoned due to racial abuse allegations. The next tour was different because they were okay in a 1-1 draw vs Congo and then subpar in a 2-0 loss to Australia. However, a stolid 2-0 loss vs Greece followed by a solid 1-1 draw vs Ireland brought us back on trend in the following window. Same deal losing 1-0 to Egypt then drawing 0-0 with Tunisia (a game we could easily have won – Singh missed a penalty). Now, more drastically, a 3-0 hiding by Mexico has been chased with a bubbling 1-1 draw against America. Bazeley’s age grade tournaments have often shown this same tendency. He makes good adjustments but it’d be nicer if the adjustments happened first.
There’s also this idea around the All Whites being a young team gaining experience. That’s true to some extent though it becomes less true with every subsequent tour. The generation of players that came in after the covid reset (Cacace, Stamenić, Bell, Garbett, Just, McCowatt, etc.) are now in that 20-30 cap range with several years of top club experience. They’re into the meat of their careers. The national team still needs leeway to get these fellas gelling given they all playing in different countries with different roles and combinations and whatever but we’re a few steps down the line here.
We can’t keep talking about them as a developing team or else it erodes the impetus for results. Teams in perennial development are forever thinking about the bigger picture or the end goal. International football needs to have that mentality where the next game is the most important game. World Cup fixture or meaningless friendly... doesn’t matter. You’re representing your country, your family, your club, yourself, your coach, your teammates. As Woodsy said, it only takes a 5-10% drop-off to spoil a performance. The bigger picture is now. This draw against USA could just be the one to signal that change.
Stray Notes
Mentioned this in passing, but credit where it’s due because Bazeley’s adjustments for the USA game were very good. He stacked the midfield, he trusted a young CB duo, and he made very good substitution (the hard running of Waine and Rogerson led directly to the equaliser). The Mexico game didn’t reflect well on him but the USA one did.
Chris Wood had 14 touches in the first game and 17 touches in the second game so even with a much improved effort around him, the All Whites still didn’t get him involved enough. The service wasn’t there... but Woodsy did have some nice hold-up touches and he did his job defensively.
Max Crocombe has now started eight of the last nine All Whites games so don’t even doubt that he’s the top choice. The distribution is a work in progress but his shot-stopping is magnificent and he’s earned this privilege. Alex Paulsen could have gotten an alternate start against USA though Crocs ultimately proved his worth in that game. Paulsen’s not going anywhere. He’s only 22 years old with one full season under his belt at club level. There’s no rush.
This from US Soccer is the previous history of USA vs New Zealand in men’s internationals:
“In their first encounter in the FIFA Confederations Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico on July 24, 1999, the Americans bested the Kiwis, 2-1. Brian McBride and Jovan Kirovski tallied. McBride headed home a John Harkes feed in the 25th minute before Kirovski headed in an Eddie Lewis corner kick in the 57th minute. Chris Zoicich scored in the final minute for New Zealand. The score remained the same in their second meeting in a friendly in Richmond, Va. on June 8, 2003. Kirovski snapped a 1-1 tie in the 65th minute on the second assist by Lewis in the match. Chris Klein had given the USMNT a 20th-minute lead, but Vaughn Coveny equalized three minutes later. The USA settled for a 1-1 draw as Monty Patterson equalized in the 72nd minute in the teams' most recent match-up in Washington D.C. on Oct. 11, 2016.”
They’re massively underselling that Zoricich goal, by the way. Also please ignore the ingratiating use of words like “tallied” and “bested”. That’s for Pochettino to cope with, not us.
This was also a small dose of revenge for Darren Bazeley who had coached against USA’s interim boss Mikey Varas at the U20 World Cup last year and got smoked... in keeping with his ongoing struggles against USA at age level. But he’s now undefeated against them with the senior team!
Sadly there was no Tyler Bindon vs USA heritage game after he missed the tour due to concussion symptoms from his last Reading match. Nando Pijnaker put a strong foot forward against USA after some career-best form in his last months in Ireland. No reason to think he won’t be a superb A-League defender with Auckland FC... but Tyler Bindon’s 20 years old and already one of the more impressive defenders in England’s League One. He’s also making a genuine nudge for first eleven status. Finn Surman didn’t do his case any harm either as the RCB. Four different CBs got starts on this tour, while Bill Tuiloma also played twice off the bench though that was exclusively at right back (he was called up after both Bindon and Dalton Wilkins were injured – both of whom can cover RB).
Bill Tuiloma minutes in MLS this year: 197
Bill Tuiloma minutes for the All Whites this year: 49
That goal was Ben Waine’s sixth for his country in only 18 appearances. It was also his first against non-Oceania opposition but even still that’s a heck of a start to his All Whites career. He’s the third-top scorer in this group after Wood (34) and Barbarouses (7).
Michael Boxall has now become the 20th NZ bloke to reach 50 international caps. Leo Bertos is the only other 50-capper without a goal for the team, though Boxy’s not done yet. Tommy Smith is also up to 56 caps while Kosta Barbarouses has 62 which puts him top five. Chris Wood, with 76, is closing in on Ivan Vicelich’s record of 88 as he seeks to do the double given he’s already the team’s record scorer.
Next time we see the All Whites, it’ll be for a World Cup qualifier against Tahiti on October 11 (being hosted in Vanuatu at the same ground that hosted the Nations Cup earlier this year), during the next international window. That’s the first game of a group stage with two home games to follow in November against Vanuatu (Hamilton) and Samoa (Auckland). There’s also a match against Malaysia in the October window which will also be in Auckland. The Samoa game is at Mt Smart. The Malaysia game is at North Harbour. Four more games this year and they should win the lot of them (although Malaysia have been a lot better lately).
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