ALL WHITES HOPING TO GET BALL INTO OPPOSITION BOX
October 9, 2010 in SPORTS
All White captain Ryan Nelson
The All Whites have set themselves two goals for the upcoming friendlies against Honduras and Paraguay. After the success of the recent World Cup where we were the only undefeated side the team have high expectations for the upcoming games.
Speaking today captain Ryan Nelson said the first goal was to get the ball in the opposition half from any means other than hoof from left or right back. The long ball down the left and right flank has become staple diet for the All Whites with the move used at every opportunity. Nelson hopes that somebody from the central midfield might offer themselves as a passing option over the 180 minutes coming up.
The second goal for the team was to get the ball into the opposition box from general play. Ricki Herbert talked about this extensively at today’s press conference. “We managed to get into the opposition box 4 times at the World Cup but all of those were from free kick within our own half. Our goal is to put a few passes together and perhaps if luck goes our way we might get an opening and get into their goal box.”
When questioned on how the All Whites were planning to do this Herbert seemed a little shocked, although he did hint that there maybe a formation change from the World Cup. “We are playing at home so we want to come out and attack. In South Africa we went with a flat back 8 with three on the goal line, including our goalkeeper. That formation saw us very hard to break down but very boring to watch. But when you are playing at home sometimes you have to throw caution into the wind. So we may see us play an 7 man defense, the usual goal line wall, with a lone striker.”
So with Herbert promising an attacking, almost samba style, game plan the upcoming games will no doubt prove to be very entertaining. Lets just hope that someone turns up to watch.
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