Soccer: New-look All Whites put on colours of the flag

By TERRY MADDAFORD

The All Whites will be looking to follow Manchester United's lead when they play Australia in their opening match at the Oceania Nations Cup tournament in Adelaide on Saturday night.

United wore the revolutionary Nike Total 90 uniform for the first time in last weekend's 3-0 FA Cup triumph against Millwall.

The All Whites will be the first national team worldwide to wear the new strip, which has been designed following consultation with New Zealand captain Ryan Nelsen and other team members.

But the team are likely to need more than just a new uniform to get them home against the Socceroos.

Australia, despite being beaten 3-1 and 1-0 against world No 7 Turkey in Sydney and Melbourne on Friday and Monday, showed enough to suggest they will be a formidable first-up opponent for the All Whites.

And they may be without Nelsen for the key clash. He arrived in Auckland yesterday nursing a groin injury sustained while leading his Washington-based DC United team in an MLS match in the United States 10 days ago.

Nelsen, who flies to Australia today to join his team-mates, said he had been lucky injury-wise, but was "stupid" to play on when he felt a twinge in his groin.

The new lightweight strip - the shirt weighs just 155g - was unveiled yesterday and revealed that the tradition of New Zealand soccer teams wearing white lives on.

But, in a major change, the black alternate (away) strip has been replaced with a new-look blue shirt and socks with red shorts and white markings, as in the colours of the national flag.

The new strip is the latest in technological developments by New Zealand Soccer's new apparel sponsor.

Nelsen and New Zealand women's international star Maia Jackman were presented with their new uniforms yesterday by Small Whites representatives Brad Evans and Madeline Field, who won trips to Auckland as part of a nationwide competition.

Jackman welcomed the opportunity to wear the strip for the first time.

"It is great that we will get to wear the same gear as the All Whites," she said.

"In the past we used to get the hand-me-downs from the guys. Being treated like this makes us feel part of New Zealand Soccer."

Jackman, who also had some say in the design, said both national sides wanted to have something that identified them as being different from the All Blacks.