KEY POINTS:
Individual highlights for Ryan Archibald and Phil Burrows but not the same celebrations for the Black Sticks as a team after making hard work of their 4-0 win over the United States in their third match of the Olympic qualifying tournament last night.
Against an American team who
happily packed their defence, the home side rarely threatened to turn a wealth of possession into goals, managing just two in each half.
The win has however set up today's classic top-of-the-table confrontation with Argentina who also have won three from three.
New Zealand, well led by Archibald in his 200th international, began promisingly enough with Burrows scoring his 100th international goal after just eight minutes to set up what most expected to be a cruise in the park.
Not so. Too many misdirected passes and turnover ball allowed the visitors to stay in touch even if at times they defended with 10 or even 11 players.
New Zealand won their only penalty corner of the first half after 25 minutes but with Hayden Shaw sidelined their variation failed.
A minute before halftime Simon Child gathered and fired home for 2-0.
After an earlier miss, Shaw scored 11 minutes into the second half for 3-0. Burrows added his second, a fine individual effort, four minutes later but the Black Sticks failed to add to that, missing three further penalty corner attempts.
New Zealand goalkeeper Paul Woolford was largely unemployed saving twice including the one penalty corner the US won.
"We have to be tighter in our ball control and be more disciplined," said coach Shane McLeod. "We have to keep in the moment better. Perhaps too many players were looking forward to playing Argentina."
Such was the intensity in the US camp there was an altercation in their dressing room at halftime.
"Nobody in our team has played a game of that intensity before," said American coach Nick Conway. "Our goalkeeper [mountain man Jeb Saez] played his brains out."
Earlier Argentina continued on their winning way with a 4-2 win over a spirited French side who closed to within a goal at 3-2 with 12 minutes to play.
The French had surprised their higher-ranked opponents when Nic Gaillard scored inside five minutes. The South Americans equalised 10 minutes later when Lucas Vila converted a penalty corner for his seventh goal of the tournament.
Argentina led 3-1 at the break but needed a late Lucas Cammareri goal to make certain of a victory in a match which coach Sergio Vigil later tagged the first of three finals his team must play en route to Sunday's tournament final.
In the early game Ireland raced to 3-0 in 18 minutes and went on to beat Trinidad and Tobago 7-2.
