Match 12: New Zealand - Slovakia Post-Match Thread [R]

That was an unexpected equalizer. Terrible marking/confusion there by Slovakia.

 

Wow, fun end to this game. Equalized on a header that was not offiside. Hard to say it wasn't deserved, even if NZ was slightly outplayed.

 

Great job by the All-Whites. Never EVER underestimate a warrior.

 

Didn't get up to watch the whole game but I just saw the NZ goal as I was heading to work.

Congrats All-Whites.

 

Sheesh. That's what I get for switching off to YouTube hakas a few minutes from full time.

 

Well done New Zealand. Slovakia to me didn't deserve 3 points from this match. To be sure, they are better than New Zealand but when a UEFA representative plays a side like New Zealand and seems content with a 1 goal lead, creating few chances throughout the match, they just better not be in the World Cup. As I said before, I believe UEFA's quota should be reduced as we can get greater diversity in the World Cup without losing much in quality in the absence of sides like of Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia et al in the competition.

 

Sheesh...you couldn't have used a more CORNIER line .

Congrats though on the point.

 

Justice done after the offside goal for SVK--in fact, justice would've been a NZ win.

The shouts in Asuncion were audible, I'm sure.

 

What a time to score.

What happened to Slovakia? They completely turned off the pressure, but all credit to the all whites.

 

This happened to be an exciting game. Slovakia was slightly better than New Zealand, but they were, somewhat, naive by shaking like that in the end. I'm happy for New Zealand, because it's their first time, and sad for Slovakia, since they were going to make history.

 

Considering the first goal was offside Slovakia should consider themselves lucky to come away with any points.

New Zealand really have to learn to speed up their attacking buildup play, far too slow... but they should be proud nonetheless, as low as their chances are to get through the group stage, at least they still have something to fight for.

All 4 countries tied at a point.

 

oh man! what a finish, i was pulling for our fellow english speakers and always like an exciting finish. this is a great example of why as a fan you have to always be there for the whole game, no matter if you're losing. I started screaming when reid scored (and probably woke my neighbors) what a great finish!

i was going to say Simon Elliot as man of the match because he was the best player out there, however he didn't have anything to do with the goal, but still a memorable game from him.

MOTM has to go to Reid, whose equalizer was one of the most exciting moments in the cup thus far. i remember him also making a game saving tackle 15 minutes prior that kept the score at 1-0. Its funny because when i came on to make this post i went to the oceania forum instead and clicked the new zealand/slovenia game where someone said Reid was rubbish and cost them that game. today he is the hero!!!

 

well done kiwis

as i posted on the oceania forum, i grew up in new Zealand, and now i am back in England, I noticed all the experts and pundits here writing NZ off....but i grew up in NZ, and I know they will fight and play 100%...its in their psyche

Great result, (should have won it)

Long live aoteoroa

 

You don't seem very excited/happy at what's just happened...

Hell, even I was screaming in joy after seeing the goal and I'm not even from NZ.

Just saying...

 

lol Condor is just a realist...and to be fair, NZ looked a bit dicey at times....but they back each other and fight like hell

 

So was I.

Even though New Zealand doesn't have many ideas on the attack, they seem to defend pretty well. Paraguay and Italy aren't the kind of teams that will score many goals on a defensive team, so I don't think it's right to say they won't have any troubles with them.

 

What matters most is tactical quality. Of course neither Slovakia or New Zealand have technical players like Italy or even Paraguay. But football is more than just technic. The two teams played open and demonstrated that they wanted to win, providing us a game with some goal chances.

I must admit that, usually, when i see a game from portuguese championship or even Champions League, i fell asleep, because of the many cautions that each team has. In this game, that wasn't the case. Neither team has anything to loose, so i like that they take riscs and fight until the end.