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Group F - New Zealand vs Slovakia, BBC1, 12.30pm


Philip Rolfe

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TBF to South Africa they have home advantage, which is massive in the WC. North Korea are still a bit of an unknown quantity aren't they?

Suppose so, although South Africa technically failed to qualify for this tournament as they went through qualis (which were for both WC and ACN) and finished 3rd in their group when top 2 only went through. North Korea's mystery could prove to be a problem, it's also why I don't see a big win for Brazil.

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I mean,seriously,how the hell can you not win against a team of amateurs???

Key word highlighted there. New Zealand played as a unit and proved difficult to break down, as well as riding their luck at times.

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I mean,seriously,how the hell can you not win against a team of amateurs???

Never underestimate amateurs. Plus the attackers and reid at least are all pro, most of the squad plays for Wellington in the A-League, so they're pro, only a few semi pros in the side. North Korea's squad is amateur apart from one or two players, as iirc 4% of the population of NK is in the army, so that'll take priority.

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I mean,seriously,how the hell can you not win against a team of amateurs???

Because they're not amateurs :confused:

The New Zealand league is amateur but the top team is Wellington Phoenix and they are professional in the Australian league. Many of the squad play for Wellington Phoenix. Some player's play abroad or for other A-League teams though - Nelsen, Killen, Wood, Smeltz, Fallon, Boyens, Reid, Moss etc.

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Never underestimate amateurs. Plus the attackers and reid at least are all pro, most of the squad plays for Wellington in the A-League, so they're pro, only a few semi pros in the side. North Korea's squad is amateur apart from one or two players, as iirc 4% of the population of NK is in the army, so that'll take priority.

Sorry i used bad choice of words.I didnt mean amateur as non-professional player,i meant amateur as for technique and level of players.NZealand players play in the A-League.....which is more or less like the italian's serie C1 at best.

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Sorry i used bad choice of words.I didnt mean amateur as non-professional player,i meant amateur as for technique and level of players.NZealand players play in the A-League.....which is more or less like the italian's serie C1 at best.

A-League teams would hold their own towards the top half on the Football League One/possibly lower half of the Championship.

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Sorry i used bad choice of words.I didnt mean amateur as non-professional player,i meant amateur as for technique and level of players.NZealand players play in the A-League.....which is more or less like the italian's serie C1 at best.

Even top level football is still about 11 physically fit men playing against 11 physically fit men.

A combination of discipline, tactics, teamwork, team spirit and luck can easily trump raw talent and quality.

It's part of why football is the best sport around - a team of nobodies can play it and have a decent chance to beat anybody as long as they're dedicated and have a good plan.

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Premier League-Serie A

Championship-Serie B

League1-Serie C1

Unless you use to watch both League1-Serie C1 matches(which i doubt)i dont see how you can say that league 1 is better.

But,anyway thats not the point since the difference would still be minimal.The point is that top division players couldnt beat a 3rd division team.

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Yeah, Premier League =/= San Marino league. Better exampe is Premier League =/= Serie A. Prem is the stronger league at the moment (after Italy slipped) and Italy's teams aren't as good as they once were.

Yeah,the prem is the stronger league at the moment,especially this year that they didnt have 1 team in the semifinals of the CL.....

And wats with that comparison prem=San marino league??

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I agree obviously,but how can you say that 1 is better than the other if you dont know anything about

both leagues??

You can make an educated guess. Which league of the two has bigger clubs, bigger crowds, bigger stadiums, and most importantly, bigger money?

You can bet on that one being better. And I'll bet you it's not C1.

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Was some game to watch with a thousand Slovaks in the city centre, they were getting so wound up by the number of chances wasted, and then the silence when the Kiwis scored :D

Give all credit to the Kiwis, managed to play as a team and now have their point, despite their goalkeeper.

Me and an English friend were the only NZ supporters and went ape-****, just for the laugh and for the looks :cool:

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Well, that was fun!

Hopefully the NZFA use this as a stick to beat FIFA with and finally force them to deal with the mess that is the Oceania confederation once and for all. Great, great result for NZ, but they need to change thngs if they are to kick on from here and progress the game domestically. Getting FIFA allowance for NZ teams to compete in the Asian Champs League would be a very good start imo.

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