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A solid second half from New Zealand, with at least no further
damage to the scoreline and no injuries to any of the squad. Coach
Herbert will be very dissappointed with the manner of the second
and third goals with Paston having nightmares about his mistake
which gifted the last one and broke the back of the All
Whites.
Read full match report
HERE
Smith showed his class at the back and has possibly sealed a spot
in the starting eleven. Fallon will take confidence from his goal
while Wood will be ruing several missed opportunities. This
morning's result could be a blessing in disguise and dampen down
some of the growing (and frankly unrealistic) expectation around
this squad.
FULLTIME: SLOVENIA 3 NEW ZEALAND 1
8:42 After the referee has managed to 4 find minutes of injury
time the final whistle goes. South Africa here we come!
8:39 New Zealand force the last corner of the match - another good
delivery from Elliot which just eludes Nelsen. Would have been a
great finish.
8:31 The pace of the match is slowing right down as both teams seem
content with the workout and the scoreline. The home side make
another change, while there is no signs of movement on the New
Zealand bench and the training game against Chile will be the last
chance to impress for the rest of the squad.
8:29 Bertos gives away a few kick in one of his few touches of the
second half
8:25 Fallon adjudged offside (looks marginal on the replay) as
Elliot finds him unmarked in the area. Slovenian make their third
and fourth and fifth substitutions of the night.
8:21 Just over 15 minutes to go and there is no sign of any further
changes. The question has got to be - what has Michael McGlinchey
done to fall out of favour? Christie is good defensively but his
touch and poor passing have been exposed on several occasions
today. Strange to think he could be the option for Brown's spot in
South Africa.
8:17 Mexican wave starts in the stadium as the home fans began
their farewell party. Can the All Whites get a goal and get back in
the match?
8:14 Reid finds the chest of Smeltz who knocks it down for a
waiting Fallon. The 28-year-old blazes the half volley high and
wide from just outside the penalty area.
8:12 New Zealand wins a free kick 30 yards out near the right hand
touchline. Elliot floats in a lovely cross which is a fraction too
high for Reid who can't keep the header down.
8:10 Two-goal Novakovic's work is done for the night as he is
replaced.
8:06 Pressure from Fallon forces the keeper to punch clear and
force a corner. Elliot produces a stinging delivery which Tommy
Smith gets a head on, but can't hit the target.
8:04 Great save! Paston parries over the bar after a stinging shot
from the edge of the area.
8:00 Two chances in two minutes for Shane Smeltz but can't get the
ball out from under his feet to get the shot on for the first, and
the second the Gold Coast striker is tackled as he tries to turn
inside.
7:58 Brockie has a half chance on the edge of the area but skies
the shot high and wide.
7:57 Ryan Nelsen has been sent from the field to change his shirt,
which had been changed at halftime due to a bloodstain and didn't
have a number.
7:56 Strange start to the half as Brockie is forced to change
shirts from number 22 to number 16 and is now wearing Aaron
Clapham's shirt. Slight bizzarre and Clapham will be hoping Brockie
hits a scorcher.
7:51 One change to the All Whites team as Jeremy Brockie comes in
to replace Chris Wood. Look for Herbert to make further changes as
the half continues.
Second half
7:36
HALFTIME: SLOVENIA 3 NEW ZEALAND 1.
What does Herbert do now? Surely Michael McGlinchey has got to get
some game time and personally I would rest Ryan Nelsen for most of
the second half as well.
7:35 Hopefully it is just issues with the ball because the New
Zealand number one has not looked assured as the shots rein in.
Again Tony Lochhead has looked vulnerable down the left hand side
and as they failed to clear the shot came in and the chance
resulted.
7:34
GOAL! 3-1 A horrible error from Mark Paston
who has looked nervous the whole match. He spilled a long range
shot and the Slovenian striker Andraz Kirm was first to react.
Horrible time to concede.
7:32 On further view, it was a difficult height for Wood and
unfortunately the chances keep falling to his right foot. This
latest one came after a Nelsen flick on.
7:29 Great chance! Wood unmarked in the six yard box cannot get any
power on the right-footed half volley. It was also a stunning save
from the keeper, a little similar to Gordon Banks fantastic save
from Pele in the 1970 World Cup as he flicked it off the line and
up over the bar.
7:27 Smeltz tries his luck from 25 yards after a Fallon knockdown
but the keeper parries it around the post. Unbelievably the referee
and assistant fail to award a corner.
7:25 Shot from distance stings Paston's hands in the New Zealand
goal as he makes a nervous grab at it.
7:22 The All Whites will have to fight back once again as they find
themselves 2-1 down, harsh decision by the referee but it does
happen in the World Cup so it is a good lesson.
7:20
GOAL! 2-1 Very poor wall, Christie jumped
completely over the ball and Milivoje Novakovic sidefoots it home
inside the far post.
7:19 Danger times for the All Whites here. Another free kick, a few
metres closer than the last one and right out in front. Looked like
a very poor decision, there was a slight shirt tug by Reid on
Novakovic who produced a fantastic dive.
7:17 Quiet period in the match as even the crowd seemed to have
gone silent.
7:10 Great technique from Fallon to keep the ball down, though on
reflection the Slovenian keeper could have done better. Still a
good fightback here and the 28-year-old notches his 3rd
international goal.
7:09
GOAL! 1-1 Rory Fallon notches the equaliser.
A long ball from Jeremy Christie from his own half, is headed down
by Chris Wood and Fallon strikes a left foot volley into the turf
and beyond the keeper.
7:08 The tall timber come forward for New Zealand's second corner
but Simon Elliot fails to clear the first defender.
7:07 Great chance! Falls again to Chris Wood, after a lovely angled
cross from Leo Bertos. The youngster was being leaned all over by
his defender but he would have expected his stooping header on
target from the edge of the six yard area.
7:06 Almost constant pressure at the moment from Slovenia and the
men in black are also being dominated physically which is a
concern.
7:01 Lovely backheeled touch from Simon Elliot sets up Chris Wood
on the edge of the area but the young striker scuffed his shot on
his weaker right foot. Good to see a half-chance created. From the
resulting corner Fallon gets a touch but can't direct the ball
goalwards.
6:58 There has been a lot of talk about the new World Cup ball and
certainly the swerve and curl on that strike from the Cologne-based
striker was something else. Paston was at full stretch but failed
to get his hand to the shot as the ball arrowed into the left hand
side of the net.
6:56
GOAL! 1-0 What a fabulous free kick by
Milivoje Novakovic from a full 25 yards. It was a dubious award
after Ryan Nelsen was judged to have fouled the Slovenian striker
in what looked like a hard but fair challenge.
6:55 Slovenia's 4-4-2 formation continues to look dangerous down
the right hand side. Lochhead gets isolated.
6:53 Nervy start from All Whites as they struggle to hold
possession in the first few minutes.
6:51 Impressive start from Slovenia, caught New Zealand napping at
the back and could have scored in the very first minute as they got
down the right and flashed a cross across the far post.
6:50 Turner and Herbert looking very relaxed as the All Whites team
(again wearing Black) go into their huddle.
6:45 A reasonable crowd in an intimate stadium in Slovenia. We have
just spotted the handful of Kiwis - always good to see. Somebody
has been selling All Whites flags outside the stadium, a few locals
have appeared to snaffle them. This is going to be tough - at home,
they will have all guns blazing and it will mean a lot to them as
it is their farewell to the home fans.
6:40 Slovenia finished second in their group behind Slovakia, and
then famously beat Russia in a two-legged playoff. Expect them to
be well organised with options up front and defensively very good
having only conceded four goals during their qualifying campaign.
They are ranked 25th in the world.
6:34 Our wish list today - no injuries, a goal (maybe to Chris Wood
would be great for his confidence) and continuing signs of
improvement. Since Bahrain they have built steadily vs Mexico, vs
Australia and especially last week against Serbia.
6:22 Welcome in to the live scoring of the All Whites' last
official friendly match before the 2010 World Cup. Coach Ricki
Herbert has said he will use all of the allowed six substitutes as
he, like all other managers, is becoming very aware of injury
following the news overnight that Rio Ferdinard is out of the
tournament with a knee injury and Didier Drogba is in doubt.
New Zealand: 1-Mark PASTON (GK), 3-Tony LOCHHEAD, 4-Winston REID, 6-Ryan NELSEN (captain), 7 Simon ELLIOTT, 9-Shane SMELTZ, 11-Leo BERTOS, 14-Rory FALLON, 19-Tommy SMITH, 20-Chris WOOD, 21-Jeremy CHRISTIE.
Substitutes: 2-Ben SIGMUND, 5-Ivan VICELEICH, 8-Cole PEVERLEY, 10-Chris KILLEN, 12-Glen MOSS (RGK), 13-Andy BARRON, 15-Michael MCGLINCHEY, 16-Aaron CLAPHAM, 17-David MULLIGAN, 18-Andrew BOYENS, 22-Jeremy BROCKIE, 23-James BANNATYNE (RGK),
Slovenia: 1-Samir HANDANOVIC (GK), 2-Miso BRECKO
(6-Branko ILIC 76), 4-Marko SULER, 5-Bostjan CESAR, 8-Robert KOREN,
9-Zlatan LJUBIJANKIC (14-Zlatko DEDIC 12), 10-Valter BIRSA,
11-Milivoje NOVAKOVIC (7-Nejc PECNIK 61), 13-Bojan JOKIC, 17-Andraz
KIRM (23-Tim MATAVZ 87), 18-Aleksander RADOSAVLJEVIC (15-Rene KRHIN
78).
Substitutes not used: 3-Elvedin DZINIC, 12-Jasmin HANDANOVIC
(RGK), 19-Suad FILEKOVIC, 20-Andrej KOMAC, 21-Dalibor
STEVANOVIC, 22-Matej MAVRIC-ROZIC,.
