The growth of New Zealand football to 2018 and beyond.

hey so my lap top crashed on me so I lost the game (not a bad thing) in the change in the game I drew nil all. Also I didn't miss as many players so there is a few changes to the squad (again not a bad thing)
 
All Whites vs Trinidad and Tobago

The Starting 11

GK Gleeson
LB Hogg
RB Fenton
CB Boxall
CB Reid (c)
DM Tuiloma
CM McGlinchey
CM Howieson
LW Rojas
RW Thomas
ST Smeltz

Moss has gone down injured so Gleeson comes in for him. Wood and Barbarouses are tired so Smeltz and Thomas are in. other than that it’s a pretty settled squad.
 
Match Report

1st goal NZ. Rojas into near post from edge of area.
Woods scores in the 90th min but was called off side. It was a little dodgy I think.

Final score was 1 nil, it was a good win Rojas is a goal scoring machine at the moment. Next on the fixture list a European tour.
 
The Squad for Europe.

Before I talk about the squad I will talk about the players I couldn’t name because of injury.
Defenders: Ian Hogg, Deklan Wynne
Midfield: Chris James, Bill Tuiloma, Dylan Burns, Michael McGlinchey, Alex Rufer
So to summarise what this means, my already paper thin left back spot is completely naked. My defensive midfield role is missing 2 players and centre midfield role is missing 3 players.

To the squad, there are 5 potential debuts, Liam Graham, Stefan Marinovic, Jesse Edge, Colin Murphy and Cory Brown. James Musa may add to his one cap while Jason Hicks and Jeremy Brockie also return to the squad.
 
All Whites vs Georgia

The Starting 11

GK Gleeson
LB Doyle
RB Graham
CB Boxall
CB Smith (c)
DM Clapham
CM Keat
CM Rojas
LW Thomas
RW Boyd
ST Wood

Captian Winston Reid is in need of a rest so he will come off the bench if needed and regular left back Ian Hogg is out injured. I have given Goal Keeper Jake Gleeson a chance to knock Glen Moss of his perch as Number 1 goalie. Our center midfield crisis has led to Marco Rojas filling in the middle as a roaming play maker.
 
Match Report

10th min, Georgia with an easy tap in after some weak defence from the All Whites.
67th min, All Whites equalise with a penalty, Aaron Clapham powers it into the top corner to make it 1 all.
84th min, All Whites take the lead through Chris Wood, he finishes an excellent team move within the 6 yard box.
90th min, All Whites seals the game through Chris Wood, he scores his 2nd of the game giving the Kiwi’s a well-earned win.

That’s right guys we just beat the 82nd ranked team on their own soil. The squad looked good the make shift midfield held their own. Chris Wood was named man of the match with a stellar performance up front and Marco Rojas also performed well in a position not known to him. The team is looking strong and the future is bright for this bunch
 
All Whites vs Faroe Islands

The Starting 11

GK Gleeson
LB Doyle
RB Graham
CB Smith
CB Reid (c)
DM Payne
CM Keat
CM Hicks
LW Thomas
RW Barbarouses
ST Smeltz

So we are now off to the Faroe Islands, ranked 178th in the world. Winston Reid returns in the heart of the defense and Payne takes his place as DM. Hicks replaces Rojas as he is tired and Barbarouses replaces Boyd. Smeltz takes over from Chris Woods who needs a rest.
 
Match Report.

13th Minute Smeltz scores with a tap in from 6 yards to make it 1 nil, the ball was playing pin ball in the box before it dropped to his feet.
35th min, disaster strikes the Faroe Islands as there centre back miskicks the ball and it ends up in the back of his own net
Half time the Kiwis are up 2 nil.
51st min Smeltz strikes from the edge of the area to make it 3 nil for the All Whites surely there is no coming back now for the Faroe Islands.
Full time 3 nil to the All Whites.

63% possession for the All Whites tells the story really, the Faroe Islands only had 3 shot and only 1 of them on target. Shane Smeltz is now only 2 goals of being the all-time top goal scorer for New Zealand.
 
Just a side note, I am now manager of Exeter with the intention of signing Kiwis with no contracts and hoping they will get work permits to play with the squad. Also I have taken over the Olympic qualifiers so will give an overview once the qualification period is over.
 
All White Team Of The Year

this thing makes no sense, a striker at right back and an attacking midfielder at centre back just seems strange but here it is
 
Oceania Player Of The Year

1st Marco Rojas (nz)
2nd Jeremy Brockie (nz)
3rd Dan Keat (nz)

Nice to see they are all All Whites
 
Olympic Qualifiers.

In the group stage we had 3 wins, beating America Samoa, Vanuatu and Samoa, we also had a weak draw vs Cook Islands. This was enough to see us through to the finals against Solomon Islands which we won with ease. Top goal scorer was David Browne with 7 goals and he also had the top average rating with 9.23, leading the comp with assists was Ryan Thomas with 4. Over all the results were pleasing enough, we did what we set out to do and that was Qualify for the Olympic Games.
 
The 2015 fixture list.

There are a couple of big games coming up against the old foe Australia, most of our games are targeting bigger opposition to challenge us and hope for a few results, should be an interesting year.
 
Squad to face Japan and Jamaica.

The media seem to be shocked at the inclusions of Craig Henderson, Stefan Marinovic and Cory Mitchell who have all been performing well in their respective leagues; they will also be in line for their first caps. Chris James returns to the squad from injury. We are going into the game with only 2 strikers, Chris Wood and Shane Smeltz. This is a close to best 23, but in saying that I am testing a few squad players to see who fits into the system. This is the first squad of the year and playing against strong opposition.
 
All Whites vs Japan

The Starting 11

GK Moss
LB Wynne
RB Roux
CB Boxall
CB Reid (c)
DM Tuiloma
CM Hicks
CM James
LW Rojas
RW Thomas
ST Smeltz

Tommy Smith has withdrawn from the squad with an injury and James Musa has come in to replace him on the bench with Boxall taking a starting role. Woods is a little tired so he makes way for Smeltz. Payne sits on the bench for this one and Tuiloma gets a starting berth and Thomas gets the nod ahead of Barbarousus.
 
Match Report.

26th min, Shane Smeltz misses a penalty.
38th min, Keisuke Honda puts Japan up 1-0.
Half time 1-0
Full time 1-0

I’m very disappointed at the result as we could have easily drawn the game, maybe even won it. This is my first loss and hoping to recover from this result vs Jamaica.
 
All Whites vs Jamaica

The Starting 11

GK Moss (c)
LB Hogg
RB Graham
CB Boxall
CB Tuiloma
DM Payne
CM Hicks
CM James
LW Rojas
RW Barbarouses
ST Smeltz

Winston Reid gets injured the day of the game and can’t play, Moss takes over as captain. Barbarouses takes over from Thomas on the right wing and Payne comes in for Reid with Tuiloma going into center back.
 
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