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Dejected All Whites have one last chance to make history
Will it be third time lucky for the All Whites at the Football World Cup?
The All Whites are now in must-win territory after a 3-1 loss to Egypt on Monday which sent the team to the bottom of Group G with a hill to climb to get to the knockout stages.
The loss to Egypt coupled with the draw with Iran a week prior means the All Whites now have one last chance to get out of the group when they play Belgium in Vancouver on Saturday.
A lot of things need to go right for the All Whites to record the elusive win against the top-ranked side in the group, and coach Darren Bazeley is clear about what it will take from his players to make history.
“For us to win at a World Cup, we need to be consistent in every moment throughout the whole game,” Bazeley said.
“We can’t have two minutes, one minute, 30 seconds where we’re not at our best because you get punished by good players.
“That’s the reality for us. It’s a harsh reality, because we have performed pretty well [against Egypt] and lost a game 3-1.”
Alex Grimm
The All Whites had their own good player against Egypt, central defender Finn Surman had been a defensive wall throughout the tournament but it was his header in the 15th minute of the match that gave the All Whites an early lead and a bit of hope.
New Zealand’s lead was gone in the 58th minute and one of Egypt’s most talked about players, captain and talisman Mohamed Salah, gave his side their own lead 10 minutes later.
A lot had been made of Salah’s role and how the All Whites would need to shut him down but in the end Salah scored in a way he has done so many times before.
“Salah scored a goal that I’ve been watching him score for 10 years, coming in and left foot.
“Goals change matches and when we’re in the game, we’re doing well and then they score and get the second goal and these are moments that we need to control better.”
Getting on the same page as the officials will also help the All Whites going forward.
Bazeley was perplexed by a second half challenge on substitute Ben Old that escaped the referee.
“I thought it was a foul, we thought it was in the moment, I’ve seen it on the video, it’s a foul, it should have been stopped.
“It leads to a goal and these are moments in games that hurt you. We could still defend it better, I’m not blaming all on that but it’s a World Cup and we need things to go our way and we didn’t get some things go our way.”
The All Whites will return to BC Place in Vancouver for their game against Belgium, a side that has had two low-scoring draws so far in the tournament.
“Can we take the best parts of our Iran performance, the best part of [the Egypt] performance and turn it into a historic moment for the country where we can win at a World Cup and get out of the group?
“I think it’s there for us now. We know what we need to do. We need to go and beat Belgium.”
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
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