A quick look at two of the three lowest ranking teams (the other being South Africa) at the World Cup.
Starting with the All Whites…
… Who’s name has nothing to do with Lord of the Rings OR Gandalf the White. So stop with all that.
Just because the trilogy was shot there doesn’t mean that everything else from NZ is Tolkien related.
Although I read that the director of up coming Hobbit movie quit because of… sorry, back the point.
Their name comes from the strip which is all white because the NZ rugby team is all black so…
As to why they don’t do the traditional Haka before they start. A response from one of their players: “Skinny white guys doing the haka…?”
Enough of this space filling – to their football:
Before they played their first game everybody pretty much chalked the New Zealand team down as one of the whipping boys. Would be troubled to score a single goal before they went straight back home after their three matches.
But wait ! What’s this ? New Zealand actually performed better than their antipodean neighbours…?
Their current record in Group F stands at P 1 D1 / goals for: 1 & goals against: 1
Meanwhile with Australia in their Group D is P1 L1 / goals for: zero & goals against: 4.
Oh and one sending off too.
Just like England and Scotland there is a close rivalry and after the Aussie’s heavy defeat to the Germans the NZ media took pot shots at them. Then after the All Whites drew their match the Sydney Morning Hearld answered with: Australasia 1 – Slovakia 1.
So now it is Australia who are seen as the underdogs and they have to get a result from their game tomorrow against Ghana – who won their first game. To use a phrase: Either go big or go home.
Meanwhile for New Zealand they have to build themselves up again and take on an even bigger task that is the current World Cup holders Italy. The concern is that after their heroics last Tuesday they might have left everything on the pitch. But you never know… as they always say…this is football…
Found some music in associated with the New Zealand team. It’s a home made effort which spoofs a very well known song – and especially the video.
The video clip first:
…and the song if you want:
I described New Zealand on Twitter as the equivalent of a non-league team in the F.A Cup, but then as The Real FA Cup replied – and after their first game performance – they are more League One.