Footballsouth Premier League
FPL 2010
All Blacks Support All Whites
Rab Smith
With only hours to go before the All Whites play Slovakia at 11 pm tonight, 15th June, in the FIFA World Cup in Rustenburg in South Africa, the All Blacks showed Kiwi solidarity by wearing All White shirts as they train for Carisbrook's last rugby test match against Wales on Saturday.
Mike McGarry sits with the ball, right of Richie McCaw
Each player's name is printed on the back of the white jersey, with the words All Blacks in all white supporting KidsCan and Plunket embroidered on the sleeve.
The jerseys will be sent to the charities, KidsCan and Plunket, after the training run so they can be used for fundraising.
Dunedin football icon Mike McGarry reciprocated by wishing the ABs good fortune against Wales, and enjoyed a chat with former Otago Boys High School pupil Richie McCaw. McGarry is head of Physical Education at OBHS, and he was joined by Football NZ. Board member Dougal McGowan.
McGarry represented NZ 87 times and scored 12 goals for the All Whites, lets hope his modern counterparts do the business tonight against Slovakia.
Below McGarry, with former Cashmere footballer Wayne Smith - who has also played a bit of rugby....
RUSTENBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert has named an experienced line-up for the All Whites 2010 FIFA World Cup opener against Slovakia in Rustenburg on Tuesday night (NZT).
Oceania Player of the Year and New Zealand’s most capped player in ‘A’ internationals Ivan Vicelich (66 caps) will partner Simon Elliott – who is only three caps behind the Auckland City captain – in the centre of midfield with the rest of the team having a settled look about it after encouraging performances against Australia, Serbia and Slovenia in recent weeks.
“We’ve always considered Ivan in midfield. He’s played the length of his professional career in that role so he gets the nod tomorrow.
“I wouldn’t say it was an easy decision to select the team, let alone the central midfield positions but that’s what we’ve gone with and I’m sure Ivan will be comfortable in there.”
Ryan Nelsen captains the side from the heart of defence and will be flanked by relative newcomers Tommy Smith and Winston Reid after strong showings in the 1-0 win over Serbia and a 1-3 defeat to Slovenia. Mark Paston starts in goal.
Leo Bertos and Tony Lochhead will carry on in the wingback roles they have performed since the World Cup playoff against Bahrain while Shane Smeltz, Rory Fallon and Chris Killen will continue as Herbert’s preferred three-pronged attack.
All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen said a Slovakian side that finished top of its qualifying group ahead of Slovenia and the Czech Republic had “his utmost respect.”
“We know after playing Serbia and Slovenia, who we think are similar, that Slovakia will be very strong, very disciplined and very organised. We have a lot of respect for what they did through their qualifying campaign and for their team all round. They are a difficult side to play against, much like ourselves.”
New Zealand: 1-Mark PASTON (GK), 3-Tony LOCHHEAD, 4-Winston REID, 5-Ivan VICELEICH, 6-Ryan NELSEN (captain), 7 Simon ELLIOTT, 9-Shane SMELTZ, 10-Chris KILLEN, 11-Leo BERTOS, 14-Rory FALLON, 19-Tommy SMITH.
Substitutes: 2-Ben SIGMUND, 8-Tim BROWN, 13-Andy BARRON, 15-Michael MCGLINCHEY, 16-Aaron CLAPHAM, 17-David MULLIGAN, 18-Andrew BOYENS, 20-Chris WOOD, 21-Jeremy CHRISTIE, 22-Jeremy BROCKIE, 23-James BANNATYNE (RGK).
Coach: Ricki HERBERT
Slovakia (from): 1-Jan MUCHA (GK), 2-Peter PEKARIK, 3-Martin SKRTEL, 4-Marek CECH, 5-Radoslav ZABAVNIK, 6-Zdenko STRBA, 7-Vladimir WEISS, 8-Jan KOZAK, 9-Stanislav SESTAK, 10-Marek SAPARA, 11-Robert VITTEK, 12-Dusan PERNIS (GK), 13-Filip HOLOSKO, 14-Martin JAKUBKO, 15-Miroslav STOCH, 16-Jan DURICA, 17-Marek HAMSIK, 18-Erik JENDRISEK, 19-Juraj KUCKA, 20-Kamil KOPUNEK, 21-Kornel SALATA, 22-Martin PETRAS, 23-Dusan KUCIAK (GK),
Coach: Vladimir WEISS
