New Zealand went down 4-0 to the United States in New Jersey yesterday in a forgettable dress rehearsal for the men's under-20 soccer World Cup.
Denied the use of four first-choice players - three of them with a virus that is sweeping through the squad - New Zealandsuffered a further setback on the way to the game in Zarapeth when their bus driver got lost, forcing a 15-minute delay to the start of the game.
American prodigy Freddy Adu then scored the first of three second-half goals as US coach Thomas Rongen substituted his entire 10-man outfield at halftime, rolling out his top 11, who simply overran a New Zealand side missing goalkeeper Jacob Spoonley, captain Jack Pelter, vice-captain Dan Keat and midfielder Aaron Clapham.
Following a 3-0 loss to Costa Rica in San Jose three days ago, New Zealand were defensively disciplined throughout. But they chased shadows for much of the second half as the Americans turned slick ball movement into goals from Adu in the 58th minute, Danny Szetela in the 69th and Michael Bradley in the 71st. Gabe Ferrari had opened the scoring in the 26th minute.
"We talk about being just two years into a long-term development programme for the game in New Zealand and we have to be honest and say that showed today," New Zealand coach Stu Jacobs said. "The US are a quality side with 18 of their 21 players playing professionally in the MLS [Major League Soccer] or in Europe. Their passing and movement is very slick, they're very strong and quick athletes, well drilled."
Jacobs hopes to arrange a training game against the reserve team from FC Toronto before New Zealand's opening match against Portugal on July 2 in Canada.
