Alex Greive celebrates after scoring New Zealand's opening goal. Photo / Photosport
The All Whites have maintained their 100 percent record at the Oceania Fifa World Cup qualifying tournament in Qatar, after a thumping 7-1 victory over New Caledonia on Friday morning.
It was a relatively close match for the first hour, before the All Whites scored four goals in the last 16 minutes as it became a rout.
Young striker Alex Greive was a standout, scoring two well taken goals and winning the penalty for another.
From being a relative unknown only a few months ago, the Birkenhead FC product has made remarkable progress since he joined St Mirren in December and showed why he is rated so highly within the national set up.
Overall, it was a confident display from a young New Zealand team, starting without several front line players, and they responded well after conceding their first goal of the tournament, creating plenty of opportunities and generally looking solid at the back.
The only concern – similar to the two previous games – was the lack of a clinical edge – as the All Whites failed to make the most of some gilt edged chances in the first half.
Logan Rogerson converted the penalty for his first All Whites goal, while replacements Andre de Jong, Bill Tuiloma and Chris Wood inflated the scoreline late in the second half, though the intensity had completely gone out of the match by that stage.
The result confirmed New Zealand's place at the top of group B.
The All Whites will face Tahiti in their semi-final on Monday (NZT), after the French Polynesia team were beaten 3-1 by the Solomon Islands in the pivotal group A playoff earlier on Friday.
As expected Danny Hay made sweeping changes to his team. Four players were brought in for the first time in this tournament, with Swansea City goalkeeper Jamie Searle making his debut and Greive getting his first start. Callum McCowatt and Tim Payne were the others introduced.
Francis de Vries was the only player retained from the starting XI against Fiji, with Winston Reid, Marko Stamenic and Nando Pijnaker among the names swapped out.
In a 4-3-3 formation, Nikko Boxall anchored the defence alongside captain Tommy Smith, ahead of midfield trio of Matt Garbett, Cam Howieson and Callum McCowatt. Greive led the line, with Joey Champness and Logan Rogerson employed wide on the flanks.
The All Whites made a bright start – in complete control – and opened the scoring in the eighth minute. Greive showed his current confidence with a clever Hernan Crespo style flick, after the driven cross from Joey Champness was slightly behind him.
But any complacency evaporated four minutes later, when New Caledonia managed a wonderful equaliser.
Striker Jean-Phillippe Saiko rose above the defence to plant his header home from 12 yards, after a half-cleared corner had been whipped back into the box.
That was a shock for the All Whites – their first concession of the tournament – but they soon regained their composure.
After Payne had narrowly failed to find Greive at the far post, Champness should have scored from a Rogerson cross but directed his first time shot straight at the keeper, who made a wonderful reflex save.
There was a sense a goal was coming – with another chance to Champness – before Greive won a penalty, with his sharp turn in the box too much for the defence, and Rogerson buried the spot kick.
Greive had been the standout player in the first half, with his pace, strength and nimble footwork, showing why he has thrived in the Scottish Premiership.
The 21-year-old extended New Zealand's lead right on halftime, with a delightful finish – coolly tucking the ball past the keeper – after two defenders failed to deal with a long ball from Smith.
The second half was a more subdued affair, as both coaches emptied their bench, with Hay taking the chance to introduce Joe Bell, Libby Cacace and Bill Tuiloma for the first time in Qatar.
Bell helped to create the fourth goal, releasing Tim Payne whose cross was bundled into an empty net by substitute Andre de Jong, after Wood had forced a good save from the keeper.
New Caledonia seemed to lose all their shape and fire in the last 15 minutes and the All Whites capitalised. Bill Tuiloma headed in from a corner, before two cool Wood finishes extended his national scoring record to 32.
All Whites 7 (Alex Greive 8',45+2' Logan Rogerson 35' pen, Andre de Jong 74', Bill Tuiloma 81', Chris Wood 83', 90')
New Caledonia 1 (Jean-Phillippe Saiko 13')
Halftime: 3-1