Kiwis take flight! New Zealand shocks Italy in World Cup

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro committed a terrible error early in the team's World Cup match with 78th-ranked New Zealand. Seven minutes had not passed when Simon Elliott’s free-kick sailed into the box, glanced off Cannavaro’s hip, and shot into Shane Smeltz’s wheelhouse. The 28-year old forward’s eyes grew big as the deflection came right to him. He knew exactly what to do, taking advantage of this extraordinary opportunity by crushing a strike hard into the back of the net. One white-clad corner of Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, South Africa erupted as Smeltz and the rest of the All Whites celebrated euphorically. They had an early lead- a lead they weren’t supposed to have on a goal they weren’t expected to score.

That magnificent shot was their only one on goal in the entire match. They had done the unthinkable, and now it appeared that their objective was to hold down powerhouse Italy the best they could. Nearly twenty minutes went by with no harm done, but then Italy made some noise. Riccardo Montolivo hit the goalpost in the 27th minute, rocketing the ball into the box. Italy was being very aggressive, and in allowing them to control the ball, New Zealand was playing with fire.

Italy kept attacking, and were helped by what Ryan Nelsen dubbed “a ridiculous call” after the match. They had a chance to break through upon being awarded a penalty kick. There was contact aplenty deep in New Zealand’s zone, but the slightest amount was actually called. Tommy Smith was perplexedly given a yellow card for nudging Daniele De Rossi , who sold it by going down in the box like he was shot. This resulted in a guessing dive to the left by goalie Mark Paston and a strike by Vincenzo Iaquinta to his right for the equalizer.

Italy controlled possession for the remaining 60-plus minutes, but Paston wouldn’t let them convert on their many chances. The ball was at Italy's end for the majority, yet New Zealand seemed content simply playing defense. A win would be magical, but a draw would be enough to induce jubilant celebrations throughout their home-country. It was just a question of whether they could keep the team that won the World Cup four years ago from scoring.

Their defense tightened, frustrating Italy to no end. When there were openings, Paston gobbled up attempts. In the 70th minute, Italy had a brilliant run going in New Zealand’s zone. Montolivo held the ball out top, waiting for his moment to arrive. The box was full of Italians and New Zealanders, but he found a sliver of daylight. To him, Paston was the only one that stood between him and a potential go-ahead goal. Paston indeed stood between him and that hope, with one hand re-directing the powerfully long strike by the 25-year old star midfielder.

It was still 1-1. New Zealand could taste a tie. Imagine how they would have felt if a shot by 18-year old substitute Chris Wood had a little less left-to-right spin. After 76 minutes without a chance to score a second goal, Wood sped through the defense and leveled a low shot headed towards the right corner. It snuck past the goalie’s lung, but it carried too much side-spin with it and rolled harmlessly past the goal-post and out of bounds. They wouldn’t have any more chances. But neither would Italy.

Italy was in possession for the remainder. New Zealand was just waiting for the final whistle to blow. It was an anxious finish, made even more so when the referee added four minutes of stoppage time. More than three minutes went by harmlessly. The ref looked at his watch and didn’t blow the whistle. A half a minute went by, then just after the 94-minute mark the whistle was blown. It was a reality: New Zealand had tied one of the better teams in the World Cup.

The draw was much more than that, as their coach Ricki Herbert said so eloquently , “I think that stopped the nation. It’s the most incredible result we’ve had across the board. As a football coach, it’s way above anything we’ve achieved in the history of the game. We are always daring to dream. At the World Cup anything is possible — we’ve seen some strange results — but nothing as big as that one.”