New Zealand v BahrainSaturday, 14 November
New Zealand v Bahrain
Verdict: Following a scoreless draw in Bahrain, in a game where the Asian side completely dominated possession and chances, the teams do battle again here on a cold New Zealand evening in front of 35,000 fans. New Zealand were completely outclassed in midfield which is a reason why the all important away goal did not come, despite fielding 3 strikers in Smeltz, Killen, and Fallon. The introduction of Wood and McGlinchey, 6 international caps between them, did provide some creativitiy for the All Whites but there are question marks whether this team can improve as a whole.
To reach this stage, New Zealand played 6 games in a poor Oceania group whereas Bahrain are more battle hardened after playing 15 matches in the distinctively tougher Asian confederation. The Asians have shown that they can perform away from their shores with good showings in Australia, Japan, and most recently Saudi Arabia where they achieved a 2-2 result. Bahrain can also call on the heart ache and experience of reaching a similar stage 4 years ago when they lost their place in Germany '06 to Trinidad and Tobago.
Pick: Bahrain DNB @1.94 (sbobet, 7 units)
New Zealand 1 - 0 Bahrain
2 comments:
Hi there, an Argentina fan from Malaysia whom will be cheering for the All White to qualify for South Africa 2010. Hopefully we can share the same group. Though I'm Asian, I would still one a team from Oceania to be there. For me, a World Cup must have representative from all six continental confederations.
GO ALL WHITES!!!
Hi John. Thanks for your comment. It will indeed be great to have our cross-Tasman cousins in SA but from a completely neutral perspective, I think Bahrain will be very tough to beat. We shall see in a few hours I guess! Good luck to your team and if they don't make it, I hope you'll be cheering the Aussies on! :)
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