Wynton Rufer had fears of a rugby league-type "game of two halves" before the Football Kingz deservedly held on to beat defending Australian soccer league champions South Melbourne 1-0 at North Harbour Stadium yesterday.
Mindful of the stirring second half fightback by the Kangaroos against the Kiwis in Fridaynight's league international, Rufer said his players were at times struggling to adapt to the difference in playing a South Melbourne side reduced to 10 players after Robert Liparoti had been sent off.
"Playing against 10 men did not help us," Rufer said. "But that, like coping with missed penalties, is something we have to learn to come to terms with."
His players showed, however, that they had learned other lessons well and rewarded the 5000-strong crowd with a richly earned victory against the team who, in not too many weeks, will rub shoulders with the best in the world club championship in Brazil.
Gone were the nerves and mistakes of a tentative first effort a fortnight earlier, replaced by a classy performance which was worth more than the one great goal they did score.
"I would have settled for an own goal as long as we won," said Rufer. "The first half was first-class football. Now we have to show we are able to do that for 90 minutes."
He reserved special praise for 35-year-old striker Fred de Jong, saying: "Even when he was knackered he was a class above the others. After all the work he had done he still got back and helped out."
De Jong was among the stand-out players in a brave Kingz effort.
His performance brought out solid games from Robbie Middleby, Harry Ngata and, in particular, Ivan Vicelich.
South Melbourne coach Angie Postecoglou had no complaints over either the result or Liparoti's sending-off.
"We got the result we deserved. We did not compete," said Postecoglou who earlier in the week had complained his team was not getting the credit it deserved. "We did not play well. Auckland were more desperate. Every week we meet teams who play out of their skins against us."
