Defiant display by spirited Kiwis

Press, 17 June 1982, Page 18

Defiant display by spirited Kiwis

From DAVID LEGGAT. in Marbella Making sound use of ball possession, and maintaining the tightest possible defensive control will be uppermost in the minds of the New Zealand World Cup team as it spends the next three days pondering and reflecting on the lessons learned in its first match in the finals yesterday. The players will remember that two of the three first-half goals thev conceded in the 2-5 loss to Scotland could have been avoided. They will also be aware that both the Soviet Union and especially Brazil have players who will tear their defence to shreds if given the room to manoeuvre that they allowed the Scottish .players’ on occasions, particularly during the first half.

They will also realise that is is just not possible to needlessly give away the amount of ball that they did yesterday, but they will also remember that they gave Scotland, a top international side, a nasty turn. It was a defiant, performance, full of character and spirit against a tremendously, talented-team. When it is considered that eight of the 11 who started the match for Scotland art? first division players in the English league and the other three have been in the top bracket of the Scottish first division players for some time, the magnitude of the New Zealand performance gains further weight. / - The statistics, add some colour to the over-all picture. Scotland had 21 corners and scored, indirectly, from one; New Zealand had three. New Zealand had 16 goal-kicks; Scotland had three. New Zealand was awarded 22 free kicks by the United States

referee. Mr David 'Socha, who had a good game, to 20 awarded to Scotland. At half-time, it seemed entirely possible that Scotland would at least double its score. What in fact happened was that New Zealand drew, 2-2, in the second 45 minutes, and both Scottish goals came from set pieces — one a superb direct free kick by John Robertson, and the other a glancing header by Steve Archibald from a right-wing cross. New Zealand's first goal can be attributed largely to inefficient Scottish tidying-up on defence. Danny McGrain’s back-pass to his goal-keeper, Alan Rough, was weak, and Steve Sumner pounced to score the first goal by an Oceania-region team in the history of the Cup finals. Steve Wooddin’s goal was a fine effort, however, and worthy of higher praise than that given to it by Scotland's manager, Mr Jock Stein. John Hill, who was outstanding at right-back, hit a long through ball between the Scottish defenders;' Wooddin controlled the ball and hammered it past Rough expertly. Individually, the New Zealanders, like a good wine, improved as the match grew older. > . •-

Frank van Hattum suffered the potentially nerveshattering experience' of conceding three goals in his first 32 minutes of World Cup football, but produced some fine saves after the interval, as the pressure was turned on. ’

Adrian Elrick had a dreadful first half in which Gordon Strachan, the Scottish man of the match, virtually dictated play from an inside-right position. However, Elrick stuck to his task and improved after the interval.

Sam Malcolmson did enough to hold his place in

the centre of the defence with a solid performance, while Bobby Almond, until leaving the field in the second half with a strained achilles tendon, was not at his authoritive best, but still has no obvious challenger. No-one covered more ground than the tigerish Keith McKay, while Ken Cresswell, after finding himself unable to get into the game before the interval, showed he has plenty of skills. Sumner was guilty of wasting possession at times, but his battle with Graeme Souness was one of several interesting confrontations in the match. Sumner and Allan Boath worked solidly in the middle of the pitch. Wynton Rufer and Wooddin worked unceasingly, back-tracking to defend when necessary, and doing enough on the ball to force the Scottish defence to keep a close watch on them. Scotland impressed when moving forward. Along with Strachan, John Robertson did the most to unhinge the New Zealand defensive door. Several times he jazzed his way past defenders before crossing with telling effect. Kenny Dalgish. potentially the greatest threat, was kept well in check, apart from his opening goal when he was expertly set up by Strachan. New Zealand might have been beaten by a comfortable margin, but it has proved, not only to the the public, but also to itself, that it can score goals, and compete successfully with some of the best players on the world premier soccer platform. Scorers: — For Scotland. Dalgish (18 minutes), John Wark (30 and 32 minutes), Robertson (74 minutes), Steve Archibald (80 minutes). New Zealand: Sumner (54 minutes), Wooddin (64 minutes).