A late goal from substitute Ben Waine has given New Zealand a 1-1 draw against the United States in their friendly international at the TQL Stadium, Cincinnati.
The home side seemed headed for a pressure-relieving win after a string of three losses when the All Whites chanced their arm in the final minute of normal time.
Defender Nando Pijnaker saw the chance to launch a long ball to his Auckland FC teammate Logan Rogerson, catching the United States on the hop.
Rogerson faltered but the ball fell in front of Waine. A desperate attempted clearance by defender Mark McKenzie struck Waine and the ball rebounded past a stranded Matt Turner in the United States goal.
Main photo: New Zealand’s Ben Waine (right) turns to celebrate after the ball hits the United States net.
The goal was a fair reward for an All Whites performance much improved from the weekend’s 3-0 loss to Mexico at California’s Rose Bowl Stadium.
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They scrapped for every ball, tried to play out from the back when they could and looked to catch the United States on the break.
The United States, #16 in the FIFA world rankings, were playing on the same day that US Soccer announced their new head coach would be Mauricio Pochettino, the former Chelsea and Paris St-Germain manager.
New Zealand went into the match rated #94 in the FIFA rankings.
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The first shot of the game came from New Zealand’s Matt Garbett who fired wide in the second minute.
The All Whites showed confidence in the opening stages, pushing men forward when in possession.
The United States appeared to take the lead in the 19th minute when Ricardo Pepi finished a fast-breaking move with a shot low inside the New Zealand post.
But while the crowd and players celebrated, the effort was disallowed, though it wasn’t clear whether it was for offside or an apparent foul on All White Libby Cacace.
The home side had a couple of hopeful attempts midway through the half, both shots from outside the area by Haji Wright.
In the 35th minute, Pepi had a clear chance, running onto a ball in the area and sliding it wide of the far post.
Four minutes later, New Zealand had their first shot on target when a box-to-box counterattack created a shot for Cacace, who forced a save from ‘keeper Turner.
In first half stoppage time, New Zealand ‘keeper Max Crocombe made an excellent save, diving to his right to divert a 25-metre shot from Yunus Musah.
In the second half, New Zealand quickly demonstrated they would battle for every ball, with tenacious tackling.
Marko Stamenic, Garbett and Alex Rufer had all picked up yellow cards but it didn’t deter the efforts to stifle the United States and reduce their time on the ball.
On the hour mark, the All Whites had another goalscoring chance when a fast break put Stamenic clear in the middle of the pitch. He slid a ball through the defence for Eli Just to run onto but his shot was well saved by Turner.
Crocombe kept his side in the game with an outstanding save in the 61st minute, when Brenden Arronson fired a shot from 12 metres with only the ‘keeper to beat.
Christian Pulisic, introduced to the game off the bench, got on the end of a five-man move to slot the ball past Crocombe and inside the far post.
The United States went ahead in the 69th minute after a flurry of substitutions from both coaches.
A minute after the goal, Folarin Balogun shot from the edge of the area, forcing another diving save from Crocombe.
In the 82nd minute, substitute Bill Tuiloma foraged down the right flank and slid a dangerous ball across the face of the United States goal but a lunging Ben Old could not quite make contact.
In the 89th minute, New Zealand found their equaliser.
Waine will be credited with the goal but it was the result of enterprise and good fortune.
The equaliser led to a nervous 10 minutes of stoppage time for a United States who seemed unsure of themselves, and fearful they could become the team to suffer their nation’s first four-match losing streak since 2007.
But they dodged the humiliation of defeat and despite having the better of the game in terms of possession (66%) and shots (17 compared to New Zealand’s 8), the United States didn’t do enough to beat the All Whites.
For Darren Bazeley’s squad, the draw was a fair reward for a brave and hardworking effort against a side 78 places higher in the FIFA men’s rankings.
Coach Darren Bazeley’s reaction
READ MORE: Bullish Bazeley: ‘We were looking for a reaction and I think we got that’ >>>>
Result
Game played Wednesday September 11, 2024 (NZT)
United States 1 (Christian Pulisic 69′)
New Zealand 1 (Ben Waine 89′)
Line-ups
United States
Matt Turner, Chris Richards, Mark McKenzie, Yunus Musah (Luca De La Torre 45’), Aidan Morris (Johnny Cardoso 86’), Ricardo Pepi (Cade Cowell 86’), Brenden Aaronson (Malik Tillman 66’), Marlon Fossey, Haji Wright (Christian Pulisic 57’), Folarin Balogun, Kristoffer Lund (Caleb Wiley 66’)
Subs not used: Patrick Schulte, Ethan Horvath, Diego Kochen, Auston Trusty, Tim Ream, Joe Scally.
New Zealand
Max Crocombe, Tim Payne (Bill Tuiloma 66’), Nando Pijnaker, Finn Surman (Michael Boxall 74’), Liberato Cacace, Joe Bell, Alex Rufer (Logan Rogerson 84’), Matt Garbett (Kosta Barbarouses 84’), Marko Stamenic, Elijah Just (Ben Old 66’), Chris Wood (Ben Waine 74’)
Subs not used: Alex Paulsen, Oli Sail, Tommy Smith, Sam Sutton.
Officials
Referee: Selvin Brown (Honduras)
Assistant referees: Gerson Orellana (Honduras), Roney Salinas (Honduras)
Fourth official: Kevin Fikar (United States)
This story was first published on September 11, 2024.
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