Latest News
All Whites looking beyond history-making farewell win
If the All Whites did not have bigger challenges on the horizon a history making win over Chile might have been more than a footnote in the broader plan.
Wanting a statement victory on home soil during a send-off ahead of the Football World Cup, a 4-1 win over a team from a region as strong as South America was a way to do it. Even if the visitors were down to 10 men after 27 minutes.
The All Whites had not beaten a South American team in 19 previous attempts.
New Zealand had not beaten any team in their last eight games.
The last time the All Whites scored more than three goals was a year ago.
While Chile failed to qualify for the World Cup, a win over the world number 55 side is a scalp that Darren Bazeley’s side can take confidence from as they look ahead to a group at the World Cup that includes Iran, Egypt and Belgium.
Immediately after the game at Eden Park, Bazeley had mixed feelings about how the Fifa Series had played out after a disappointing loss to Finland on Friday.
“We wanted to win both games,” Bazeley said.
“We don’t get too carried away with tonight, we didn’t get too carried away with the Finland result. We know these games are what they are and we still know we’ve got a lot of work to do before the World Cup.”
All White Joe Bell wants wins. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Timing can be everything and winning can be a habit and experienced midfielder Joe Bell believed the All Whites were going to peak at the right moment.
“It takes time changing that mentality when you play against teams like Chile and these top opponents to recognise that it’s beyond an expectation to perform against them and maybe get a draw, it’s the drive to try to get wins and results.
“We’re going to take confidence from it. I think we’ve been building in confidence, and it’s been a long journey that we’re trying to time correctly going into the World Cup, that we’re a little bit more result-focused now than the performance.”
Goal scoring had been one of the All Whites’ challenges in recent times. So to get four different players’ names on the scoresheet – Kosta Barbarouses, Eli Just, Ben Waine and Jesse Randall – was not only good for the individuals who were wanting to make an impression ahead of the naming of the World Cup squad but also for a team playing without their injured captain and leading goalscorer Chris Wood.
“I’m not expecting some magic pill that suddenly we’re going to start scoring four goals every game, but I think we’re going to take a lot from this game,” Bell said.
“I think we can all agree that we looked far more aggressive, we were creating more chances, and that’s been something that we’ve been focused on for a long time now.
“So we’re going to have to stay focused, take the learning points, and just continue it.”
Match referee Michael Oliver shows Dario Osoria of Chile the red card against the All Whites. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
The memory of the upset win over Chile on a drizzly Monday night in Auckland in front of over 13,000 fans, many of whom were supporting Chile, will be fresh in the players’ minds when they reconvene with the national side in June.
Bazeley points out that whenever the team goes into camp they look at their last performance. Even though he thinks the team will have learnt more from the Finland loss than the Chile result, the win will still get plenty of video review time.
“It’s not easy playing against 10 men. Sometimes that becomes even harder, especially against a South American team that’s probably got the ability to play with 10. So I thought we were pretty comfortable doing that,” Bazeley said.
But not every player who will be part of the review will have played in the victory.
By mid-May Bazeley has to have finalised his 26-man World Cup squad and with six players missing the Fifa Series through injury, some players who were involved in the two games in Auckland will not be at the World Cup.
Bazeley said all players were getting the same message when it came to World Cup selections.
“We’re in contact with the wider group of players that we monitor.
“These guys were here with us but they’re not receiving different messages to players that are not here, including Chris Wood and other players on that long list.
“We’ll be close to confirming our pre-World Cup schedule soon, because we’re close to confirming another [warm up] game.
“Then we’ll get the dates of when the squad needs to be selected by and obviously get that out to the players so everybody knows.”
rnz
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
rnz
Police say person who fired gun at officers still at large
New Zealand sides named for RLWC finals
Parliamentary Service working on extra chairs and offices for increased number of MPs
-
Latest News2 months ago‘Chilling’: Business groups speak out against National’s supermarket break-up plan
-
NZ News2 months agoTom Phillips report: The missed opportunities to find the children
-
Politics2 months agoNational vows to try to split Pak’nSave and New World
-
Latest News2 months agoCars bearing Chinese police markings stir unease in Auckland
-
Fiji News2 months agoPlans to have new Constitution by Dec 24th 2026
-
NZ News2 months agoCop who stole $68,000 can now be named as champion Muay Thai fighter Haimona Tamati-Te Paki
-
Politics2 months agoMBIE confirms botched biometric projects costs blown out to $50.7 million
-
Latest News2 months agoFive Karangahape Road venues lose their liquor licences after police intervention