A draw for New Zealand against Papua New Guinea in their final pool match at North Harbour Stadium tomorrow will ensure their place in Wednesday's final of the Oceania Under-17 Championship but they will need to produce something better than they have shown at times in this tournament to justify
their hot favouritism.
Ahead 1-0 at halftime in their penultimate group outing yesterday, they eventually beat cellar-dwellers American Samoa 4-0 but left their supporters perplexed with another substandard performance.
Apart from the first half when they took a 4-0 lead over Vanuatu in their first outing and for patches in the second half yesterday, the Young All Whites have struggled to live up to coach Steve Cain's prediction that this is a better team than he took to the last 16 at the 2009 Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria.
Cain was putting on a brave face after yesterday's win, saying it is not about winning games 12-0 and that it can be difficult when your team has an overabundance of possession but, in reality, there have been times this week when his charges have been downright sloppy and not produced the class expected from a team obviously well coached and given ample time to prepare.
In the opening 45 minutes yesterday, the home team enjoyed perhaps 80 per cent of possession and the same amount of territory yet they got just one James Wypych goal.
New Zealand had 12 corners in that time (and six in the second half) but fired three over the goal-line and never tested Taufaiula Mavaega in the American Samoa goal.
Wypych looked good early. He got forward and gave a sound attacking option on the left but soon retreated - and, Cain insists, not under any instruction from the dugout - to become ineffectual.
Soccer is about scoring goals. New Zealand had their chances but squandered too many - including a missed penalty and another from a metre or so right in front.
