New Zealand Appreciation Thread

[EKBATAN]

Thats because in each of the games they have played this year, they've been trailing, so it would make absolute sense for Italy to attack to get equaliser? Still, they are a defensive team IMHO.

u obviously havent watched italy at all....

they have been an attacking team for a long time...defenders like zambrotta, grosso, maggio, criscito are always pushing up, how is that defensive?


anyway u should worry about ur england who hasnt done shit in decades...EPL talks alot of smack but they cant replicate on national level

[HuSsAiN]

u obviously havent watched italy at all....
they have been an attacking team for a long time...defenders like zambrotta, grosso, maggio, criscito are always pushing up, how is that defensive?
anyway u should worry about ur england who hasnt done shit in decades...EPL talks alot of smack but they cant replicate on national level

Please...Lets not go too far. I'm not doubting that Italy have very good players, and some techinically gifted players, but in the past few years, the structure of team, was to get a goal, and then to defend. It's not a bad tactic, they are discplined and proffesional about it. England have Italian manager Capello, and one thing, I like, is the disclipine.

I love it how you went so defensive, and brought England to the equation... Yeah, we've done rubbish, but still went ahead of Italy this year who came bottom of a group that was considered 'easy' for Italy. I mean, New Zealand came ahead of you, and no disrespect to them, but even the players wouldn't have dreamt of being ahead of the World Champions

[Abbas85]

I dont respect anti-football teams, and New Zealand is the biggest anti-football team I have ever seen. They might as well have set up some lawn chairs and a table in front of the goal while peeling and eating Kiwis.

[elnino99]

poor NZ


if they attacked when they no it's not their strength and go smashed 4-0 everygame, we would be making fun of them.

now they were very organized and solid in defense and went unbeaten and still get stick for that.

[Abbas85]

poor NZ


if they attacked when they no it's not their strength and go smashed 4-0 everygame, we would be making fun of them.

now they were very organized and solid in defense and went unbeaten and still get stick for that.

Its football, not king of the hill. You got to move out of your own half...

[EKBATAN]

Please...Lets not go too far. I'm not doubting that Italy have very good players, and some techinically gifted players, but in the past few years, the structure of team, was to get a goal, and then to defend. It's not a bad tactic, they are discplined and proffesional about it. England have Italian manager Capello, and one thing, I like, is the disclipine.

I love it how you went so defensive, and brought England to the equation... Yeah, we've done rubbish, but still went ahead of Italy this year who came bottom of a group that was considered 'easy' for Italy. I mean, New Zealand came ahead of you, and no disrespect to them, but even the players wouldn't have dreamt of being ahead of the World Champions

last 4 years italy's team has been nothing like before, their defense is at an all time worse, what ur saying is just a stereotype by people who dont like italy mostly cuz at some point they eliminated them and people are usually sore losers. This world cup, italy didnt even pick their best players, i could've put together an italy B-team that would win the world cup (with the inclusion of buffon and chielli of course) so its not like italy had the best team and they ended up like this. Its easy to talk trash when they're at their lowest with bad coaching. But most of these good teams would not even be able to beat italy in their prime, ex WC 06, no one scored a goal on them the whole tournament, one own goal, and another dive penalty.

There is a difference between GOOD defense and 11 man defense. Italy has always had great attackers, mid fielders and wingers, there is a reason they are THE most successful (national and club wise) even on top of brazil. Brazil has more international cups but club wise italy we all know is top 2 or 3 and for some decades they were literally #1 league in the world.

So this whole stereo type is a bunch of bullshit, i want u to show me a game where italy played the way u said. All i can think of is maybe holland game in 2000 euro and thats cuz they were 10men and played in holland's home with the whole stadium in orange and holland was in full attack cuz they wanted to win the cup. And still that game the 2 best chances came from italy. in any case, even to italy's defense this world cup, paraguay and slovakia are good teams, u guys always judge teams by their NAMES and history instead of who they are now. Like i said paraguay finished 2nd to brazil and NZ wasnt as bad as everyone thought. I'm just glad this WC is over and out with the old and in with the new, i cant wait to see the new team for Euro qualifier in a few months.

[khodam]

NZ team did exactly what TM did in 1998. Just sit back and defend and wait for an opportunity in counter attack. IMO, NZ did a nicer job than TM as our defense did not look as composed as theirs.

Nonetheless, this is not why I watch the WC. I like action and exciting soccer. This new trend of "sit-back" and wait doesn't interest me a lot.

Now for all those who complain about Italy's defensive game, please note that Italy is the only team that can play 15-20 minutes in their own half COMFORTABLY . They laps in defensive edge this year due to some uncommon mistake. It's even funny to relate "defensive mistakes" to Italy.

When comparing Italy to say England (Sorry HuSsiAn jan), I still believe it is more interesting to watch Italy than England - especially if Eng has Peter Crouch playing

Italy could produce good soccer if they ease down on their theatrics a bit.

[EKBATAN]

Italy could produce good soccer if they ease down on their theatrics a bit.

exactly, thats my only complaint about them

and if u look at the past, italy's games have always been entertaining so idk why people complain...some go italy's way and some go against but in the end they're good games with goals. in the past 4 years, its been against them

[shayan20]

from such low resources they made the most of it.
The draw with italy sparked celebrations all around the country.

[shafeii]

from such low resources they made the most of it.
The draw with italy sparked celebrations all around the country.

yes shayan jaan. i completely agree with you. they made the best out of their low resources, considering that nz only have 25 professional players in the whole country compared to Italy thousands, i think its not a bad show.

it's not only that, but we could go on and on about the have's and have nots, comparing nz to italy, and yet some people are criticizing nz about their 'anti football', style, i think that in this situation if your nz, you should be more worried about the result rather than playing attractive football.

[shafeii]

poor NZ


if they attacked when they no it's not their strength and go smashed 4-0 everygame, we would be making fun of them.

now they were very organized and solid in defense and went unbeaten and still get stick for that.

ya i agree with you. i remember the nz coach mentioning that we have to accept that we cant play football against italy or else they would be in trouble, they had to play to their strength and with rory fallon they had advantage to play the ariel ball as that could be their advantage, to beat italy,

[shafeii]

I dont respect anti-football teams, and New Zealand is the biggest anti-football team I have ever seen. They might as well have set up some lawn chairs and a table in front of the goal while peeling and eating Kiwis.

well if the opposition team is that great, they should somehow find a way to break their defense, if your italy the defending champions, player to player you should have enough quality or adapt a new tactic to score and win the game, doesnt matter if you play 11 men behind the ball. look at the squad player to player, compared to italy doesnt matter what style you personally prefer , you should respect that nz ranked 75th in the world held on to a draw to italy ranked 5th.

i also remember that serbia had similar troubles because they couldnt break there defense, even though it was a friendly game, you can see the body language of their frustration.

[shafeii]

from such low resources they made the most of it.
The draw with italy sparked celebrations all around the country.

also to add on to what you say, it just shows how far team spirit, self belief, and determination takes you..
this nz team were playing as a team, they played for each other, they had low resources compared to the teams they faced in the wc, however their team spirit and self belief got them their results.

an example is in the nz team one of their defenders played in every single qualifying game including the 2 leg against bahrain, and didn't play a single second in south africa, and his response to all of this was that the team's wc is bigger than his individual problem, and therefore i will be happy to cheer them on...

i remember last wc, TM lacked self belief and determination, and i feel that was one of the reasons that they didnt get results. if true from what i read there similar situations where karimi said i wont play if daie plays, players refusing to come on as a sub etc, who knows maybe they could of get further if they put all that behind them, and had a team that was playing for each other,


of course i wasnt in the camp therefore im just giving my opinion based on what i read from journalists that were there at the camp.

[shayan20]

yea true. playing antifootball for a nation like nz is fully acceptable and only way to move forward.
its those disgusting teams with highest resources that play antifootball.