It was a draw. I remember watching the qualification draw, the matchups for the intercontinental playoffs were the very first thing they did.
New Zealand has better players than everyone thinks. Winston Reid is one of the best players in England that nobody knows. He is the best player for West Ham. Vicelich was a six year starter in the Eredivisie. Tommy Smith is the best player on Ipswich in the Championship. Marco Rojas just moved to Stuttgart. He is recovering from an injury, and should be back very soon. Very good young player. Chris Wood is one of the best young strikers in England. I am definitely promoting their team, but they have a talented squad. Player for player, I think they are as talented as any team in CONCACAF besides USA and Mexico.
This cartoonist always presents the absolute best work.............................. A key example....................... New Zealand 1 Honduras 0 [March 2012 in Dallas] The problem New Zealand has is a real dearth of experience of games at this kind of level. If you look at the teams they've played in 2012 and 2013, they basically haven't played anybody. Some 2012-2013 results that should make you pause: New Caledonia 2 New Zealand 0 UAE 2 New Zealand 0 T&T 0 New Zealand 0 China 1 New Zealand 1 New Zealand 1 Solomon Islands 1 Even some wins have scorelines that make you scratch your head: New Zealand 1 Fiji 0 New Zealand 1 Papua New Guinea 0 New Zealand 4 Solomon Islands 3 New Zealand 2 New Caledonia 1 New Zealand 1 Saudi Arabia 0 Since the last World Cup I'd say New Zealand has beaten two teams I'd consider "good." And that was Serbia in 2010 and that Honduras game in 2012. Both in neutral venues. Nothing close to what they're going to encounter at the Azteca. This isn't going to be a blowout by any means, but there's very little evidence to support picking New Zealand to advance. I mean, Mexico's win against Panama is more impressive than any recent win by New Zealand. And Mexico's win at the 2013 Confed Cup against Japan blows anything New Zealand has done out of the water.
The difference between a futballing country celebrating and a non-futboling country celebrating going to the World Cup
Ended up being called back for offside because of Chich's mishit on the sitter. On instinct, Oribe interfered with Navas and it was called back by the AR. It was an atrocious miss by Chich at the time. Didn't end up mattering but it almost did.
I don't think its going to be a blowout either way, but I do think some people are underestimating New Zealand. Player for player, New Zealand might even be able to come close to matching Mexico. New Zealand has a lot of talented players. They just suffer from playing bad competition. They are expected to beat Oceania competition 10-0, but never get any praise for winning 10-0. When they play poorly, people point to their poor talent level, which isn't true. Teams sometimes play down to their competition, and nothing New Zealand can do against Oceania competition is ever going to get them praise from anyone. When they played outside of Oceania at the 2010 World Cup, they showed that they can hang with many teams as good or better than the caliber of the current Mexican team.
mexicans are indifferent about the US as opposed to those living here. Hell this morning centries were calling in droves complaining on the radio on why so much talk about mexico and they arent getting any love. its the same feeling those peeps have about us here as opposed to those over there.
This isn't something I see everyday nor expect to see... ever. whereas everyday angry Centrie talk is about as common everyday as drinking water.
Also, anyone up for staying up late to watch Mexico play the All Whites for the 2nd leg? It'd be on at around 1:30AM ET on 11/20 from what I've seen, but correct me if I'm wrong
@mexicoworldcup9h Chivas owner Jorge Vergara on @ESPN_JorgeRamos that there could be a change of manager in El Tri ... @mexicoworldcup8h It is a joke is Vergara is serious when he says that Vucetich getting fired is a possibility. Has had just two games and his CV is exemplary I don't think this will get very far, and has very little substance, but we've seen the FMF do crazier things. If Mexico is seriously thinking about getting ANOTHER manager....no. They can't be serious. They can NOT be serious about replacing Vucetich after only two games. He's had only about 5 weeks to get results, and thanks to Zusi throwing a lifeline, he's got another month to prepare for New Zealand. If Mexico actually get ANOTHER manager.....we might as well pencil in the All Whites for the World Cup.
They've always been ridiculous with their revolving door, but they are on the verge of becoming a straight up parody of themselves.
Especially if the rumors of Bielsa are true. Wtf can Bielsa do with this team with less than a month to prepare? Or anyone for that matter.. it would have to be someone like Piojo or Aguirre if Vuce was to leave and his sacking would've had happened yesterday or its just time wasted. Vergara probably has some deep seeded hate for Vuce or sumn.
If it is Bielsa, it'd make a lot more sense for him to be hired AFTER the playoff, whether or not Mexico qualifies. If Mexico make it, Bielsa could work with what he could in seven months, which would give him a fair amount of time to scout the pool and at least implement his system to some degree. If Mexico miss out, Bielsa would be able to scout the pool, implement his system, and we would be seeing the effects likely at the 2015 Gold Cup. Either way, it should happen AFTER the playoffs, not before.