Having beaten England and the United States, the New Zealand Masters football team came down to earth with a thud last night against Iran.
The Kiwi team, with Hawke's Bay goalkeeper Nic Clere and manager Bruce Macdonald, lost 7-1 to the Middle Eastern outfit in the annual international tournament in Thailand.
"They
were outstanding, so we'll be playing the Thai B team next and, if we win, we'll play for third-fourth spot," Macdonald said via email.
The New Zealand team wore black armbands as a mark of respect for the late Linda Akers, wife of former All White player Marty Akers of Napier, in their opening day 3-0 victory over England.
She had battled cancer since 2007 and her funeral was held in Napier today.
Five minutes before halftime, Chris Yiavias struck for New Zealand.
Macdonald said the second half was only a few minutes old when the Kiwis struck again in possibly the goal of the tourney after right wing Jose Quijada unleashed a left-footer into the far corner of the net.
Alan Lamb's clipped the post and went in for the third goal.
The next day, they played the Americans and were held scoreless in the first half.
Former All Whites coach John Adshead injected fresh legs. NoelBarkley cut inside his defender on the left flank to slide the ball past the goalkeeper.
Somewhat deflated because they had the majority of possession in the first half, the Americans did not threaten apart from a free kick, which keeper Clere thwarted.
Lamb rifled a shot into the top right-hand corner for another goal.
The play-offs are tomorrow.
