Refereeing will be crucial to Olympic soccer hopes

Press, 13 April 1984, Page 10

Refereeing will be crucial to Olympic soccer hopes

There is one very good reason why New Zealand’s soccer team is going to find it a particularly demanding task to qualify for the Olympic Games over the coming fortnight in Singapore.

This is over and above the facts that the tournament will be played in conditions which are from the players’ liking and that four players who were stone-cold certainties for the side will be absent. Where the New Zealanders will strike special problems is in the appointment of referees for the games against Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, South Korea and Bahrain. There is one .re-

By

DAVID LEGGAT

feree on the panel of 10 from Australia, Chris Barnbridge. Of the remainder, two are from Singapore, one each from Hong Kong, the Philippines and China, as well as three men from Jordan, Iran and Syria, and the Indonesian who is well known to New Zealand supporters, Hardjowasito Sudarso. It will be recalled that Mr Sudarso was the man in charge when New Zealand went down, 2-1, to Kuwait at Auckland in a World Cup qualifying match. Mr Sudarso awarded two penalties to the Kuwaitis, which were among a succession of bizarre rulings which contributed considerably to the outcome.

The problems in Singapore are likely to stem from the different law interpretations by the Asian and Arabic referees compared with the approach of European officials.

The appointments will be made today in Singapore and it will be interesting to note whether Mr Bambridge is given any of New Zealand’s matches and whether any of Messrs Jamal al Sharif, of Syria, Ahmed Bash from Jordan, Manouchehr Nazari of Iran or Mr Sudarso is assigned to

any of the All Whites games.

If they are, particularly to one of the matches against the Gulf countries, New Zealand is sure to protest, especially in the light of blatantly inflamatory remarks of the Kuwait manager, Sheikh Fahad Alahmad, earlier this week. He was of the opinion that New Zealand — as Oceania’s representative — should not be in Singapore, that it should be an entirely Asian-Arabic tournament. “It is wrong to have them with us. It means that one of our brothers is deprived of a place in the Olympics. We would like to see an allAsian representation. . . and we will do our best to keep New Zealand out of the finals.” If his remarks were designed to cause apprehension in the New Zealand camp — and not just for reasons solely connected with the playing of soccer — then they probably did a good job. Nine of the 18 members of the squad were in Singapore when New Zealand gained its historic 2-1 win over China to advance to the World Cup finals three years ago. Eight of those

nine, Frank van Hattum, Adrian Elrick, Ricki Herbert, Allan Boath, Duncan Cole, Peter Simonsen, Grant Turner and Keith Mackay, have good prospects of lining up against Saudi Arabia in New Zealand’s opening game on Sunday night (N.Z. time). The odd man out is Glenn Adam, who is likely once again to warm the substitutes bench.

They, at least, will know what to expect. The four absentees, Steve Wooddin and Ken Cresswell, who withdrew for personal and business reasons, Wynton Rufer, due to professional commitments in Switzerland, and Steve Sumner, through injury, will be missed, none more so than Sumner.

His ability to orchestra the midfield happenings is crucial. Although he has been left a ticket to Singapore in the faint hope that the broken bone in his right foot will recover in time for him to take part in the tournament, Sumner is unlikely to go, even if New Zealand does have to play the play-off for the third spot on April 29. To have hopes of reaching Los Angeles, it is crucial that New Zealand pick up points in its first two

matches. That way, it can ensure that it has some easy say in its own destiny, when it meets South Korea and Bahrain. The worst possible situation would be to leave its fate in the hands of others.

New Zealand’s coaches, Allan Jones and Kevin Fallon, will be pleased to get an early look at Bahrain and Kuwait, who play each other in the opening Group A match the day before New Zealand meets Saudi Arabia.

Indeed, New Zealand will get a second look at Kuwait before the two meet. The Kuwaitis will play South Korea two days before New Zealand meets its old World Cup adversary. But unfortunately, New Zealand will have the early game, against Bahrain, on the final day of Group A matches, leaving Saudi Arabia and South Korea to contest the last game.

With Sumner out, it is impossible to over-em-phasise the importance of Billy McClure in the overall scheme of things. His work at set pieces will be vital and he is the only New Zealander — the unpredictable Turner always excepted — with the necessary skill to create an opening in a usually sound defence.

Mr Jones’ chief concern, apart from the ever-present worry about who should partner McClure in attack, will be where to make best use of his captain, Boath.

The Scottish-born Boath is a highly efficient sweeper, but might have to be returned to the midfield to add extra thrust. Fortunately, in Keith Garland and Adrian Elrick Mr Jones has two defenders equally adept on the flank or picking up the pieces behind Ceri Evans in the middle of the defence.

Yet it is difficult to get rid of the uneasy feeling that New Zealand’s realistic prospects will be decided by the appointments of the referees today.