Soccer: All Whites notch Europe milestone at last

All Whites 3
Georgia 1

The monkey is off the All Whites' backs. In beating Georgia, and the odds, in Altenkirchen, Germany, yesterday, Ricki Herbert's team broke through for a historic first New Zealand international triumph on European soil.

The win, spearheaded by Vaughan Coveny's double strike, ended a 42-year drought for national sides since a 4-1 loss to England Amateurs in Dulwich in 1962.

The three goals scored against Georgia - a team ranked 19 places higher than New Zealand at 101 on the Fifa list - were significant.

It is the first time New Zealand has scored three in an international in Europe - one better than the two they managed in losing 2-5 to Scotland at the 1982 World Cup and in the 2-3 loss to Estonia in Tallin four years ago.

"It was fantastic," said an overjoyed Herbert, who has now won three and lost three in his time in charge. The win in Germany followed successes earlier this year in home internationals with Malaysia.

"We played so well. People here are surprised with what we have done. While it was difficult to talk to their [German] coach, the general feeling among the media was that Georgia expected to win by two or three goals as they prepare for their game against Paraguay in a few days time.

"We changed some things after the Hungary match," said Herbert. "We were always going to try things. We asked Leo Bertos to play a central role in behind the strikers - something he has never done before.

"His performance for 90 minutes was outstanding." It was a result Herbert and assistant coaches Brian Turner and Stu Jacobs savoured.

"From the start we decided to take the game to them," said Herbert. "After 15 or 20 minutes I said to Brian and Stu, 'we can either keep going and continue to back ourselves or pull back'. We kept going and scored two very good goals and missed some other chances."

Coveny, put through by central defender Steven Old - a player Herbert and Turner tagged as "outstanding" - fired home though the goalkeeper's legs from an acute angle for the 35th-minute opener.

Chris Killen, into the starting line-up to join Coveny in a two-pronged strikeforce, made it 2-0 a couple of minutes later.

The All Whites were punished when AZ Alkmar striker Shota Arveladze was given too much space and just before halftime he beat Glen Moss in a one-on-one which gave Moss no chance.

The scoring was completed eight minutes into the second spell when Coveny nodded home an inch-perfect David Mulligan cross from set play.

Georgia went in search of goals on the muddy Glocken Spitze Stadium pitch but could not beat a resolute defensive effort led by captain Danny Hay, Old and fullbacks Noah Hickey and Kris Boukenooghe.

"In front of them, and the defence, including Moss who had another outstanding game, played extremely well, Ivan Vicelich turned in another superb effort," said Herbert.

"He combined very well with Jeremy Christie and David Mulligan who worked tirelessly."

Turner was buzzing. Not surprisingly, he rated this as the best performance in his time with the national side.

"We took the game to them. We tried to break them down by being creative," said Turner. "We want to be difficult to beat any time we play. We certainly did that here."

Turner said that a number of scouts had been at the game with Moss, Old and Bertos in particular catching their attention.

Herbert hinted there are likely to be changes when he names the team to play Estonia on Thursday as he wants to ensure the players he wants to put out for the match against Brazil a week today have not been overworked.

HOW THEY FARED
All Whites in Europe

1964: lost to England Amateurs 4-1

1969: lost to Israel 4-0, 2-0

1982 (World Cup): lost to Scotland 5-2, USSR 3-0, Brazil 4-0.

1984: lost to England B 2-0

1989: lost to Israel 3-0, 1-0

2002: lost to Estonia 3-2, Poland 2-0

2003: drew with Scotland 1-1, (Confederations Cup) lost to France 5-0, Japan 3-0, Colombia 3-1

2005: lost to Australia (in London) 1-0

2006: lost to Hungary 2-0