N.Z. must learn how to win, says coach

Press, 19 February 1986, Page 68

N.Z. must learn how to win, says coach

PA Wellington New Zealand soccer coach, Kevin Fallon, will be giving his players a stern directive before they meet the Soviet Union at Newtown Park in Wellington tonight. In the opening match of the five-game series in Auckland on Monday night, the All Whites went down, 0-1, to the Russians and it rankled Mr Fallon that many accepted the defeat as a good result “We have to get out of the habit of accepting defeat,” said Mr Fallon yesterday. “People said that losing by one goal wasn’t bad on Monday night Well I can’t accept that. We lost again. It is time we got win-orientated. We have to learn how to wja.” Mr Fallon said that his

team matched the Russians in most departments but failed to get a share of the spoils in the end. “Over all, it wasn’t a bad effort from my side but I was disappointed we didn’t get at least a draw cut of it We have to stop accepting second

best” The New Zealand coach will be looking for a win in tonight’s match, although the Russians will no doubt be improved. The Soviet Union coach, Sergej Mosiagin, said he felt his players were affected by their long journey in the opening match. “It took us almost four days to get to New Zealand because of holdups,” Mr Mosiagin said. “That told in our performance. Our players were slow and made technical errors. “Because of our slow build-up, particularly in the first half, we didn’t create enough chances. At half-time we asked the players to try and think and act faster and they were better in the second half.”