Soccer: Flying Kiwis stand tall

Italy 4
All Whites 3

PRETORIA - For 67 glorious minutes yesterday the All Whites threatened to write one of the great chapters in New Zealand sport.

Pitted against world champions Italy, Ricki Herbert's brave warriors had to pinch themselves in near-disbelief as they contemplated a scoreboard which at times in their favour read 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2.

The massive upset was in the offing until the Italians conjured late goals to eventually win 4-3 - avoiding what would have been an embarrassing loss on a wet, cold South African night at Super Stadium.

This was no flaky All Whites' effort. And, as Herbert later said, "In this industry, anything is possible.

"We scored three goals against the world champions. We were decent with the ball at times and for Shane Smeltz and Chris Killen to grab three goals is fantastic. And, they were three quality goals.

"I am very humbled and very proud." Deservedly so.

Any fears that the New Zealanders, who spent 2 hours in a bus to reach the ground in Attridgeville and did not get back to their hotel until well after 2am, would again fall behind to an early goal were quickly forgotten.

Smeltz's 14th-minute header from a magnificent, curling Leo Bertos free kick stunned the Italians and gave Tim Brown-led New Zealand a fillip they could only have dreamed of.

The confirmation of the opening goal was greeted by a chorus of booing from shocked Italian supporters.

Spurred by such a stunning start, the All Whites - coincidently playing in black as the Italians opted for their all white rather than traditional blue and white - kept pressing.

By the end of the game they had forced nine corners - scoring from one. The Italians never won any.

The huge Italian support - they had 50 busloads of fans packing the stand - were gobsmacked. When Chris Killen headed home a Bertos left-wing corner in the 41st minute for 2-1, the mass of green, white and red Italian flags stayed down.

It was only the second time New Zealand's much-vaunted strike-force of Smeltz and Killen had both scored in the same match.

The Italians' only first-half joy came in the 33rd minute when, in quickly turning defence into attack and on the back of a great cross-field ball from Simone Pepe, Alberto Gilardino was presented with a simple far post header for 1-1.

Enjoying that deserved odd-goal halftime advantage, the All Whites returned determined to carry on from where they had left off.

For a team who had scored more than two goals against non-Oceania opposition only once since early 2006 - in the 3-1 win over Georgia in Germany - the dream of a huge upset lived on.

In less than two minutes after the restart, and with coach Marcello Lippi making the first of his six substitutions, the dream threatened to turn to something else when Andrea Dossena chased deep before firing in a cross which eventually found Fabio Quagliarella, who headed home.

From a concerted attack in which a decent shout for hand ball by an under-pressure defender was turned down by South African referee Daniel Bennett, Killen was hand-tripped by goalkeeper Marco Amelia.

Bennett, who had a super game, instantly pointed to the spot. Just as quickly Killen hit home, the dream rekindled.

Lippi, fearing further embarrassment, turned to his bench, making four changes on the hour and another five minutes later as stars Luca Toni and Gianluca Zambrotta were introduced. Two goals in five minutes - both to substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta - restored some semblance of normality as the world's fifth-ranked team drew level and then, 20 minutes from time, edged ahead.

There was disappointment in the New Zealand camp that they had not completed mission impossible. There should not have been.

It was a truly magnificent effort and the Confederations Cup dress rehearsal Herbert and his players would only have had in their wildest dreams.