All Whites 0
Haiti 4
The All Whites will have their plans in place as they move forward to their opening match of the Football World Cup against Iran on June 16.
And while the result of Wednesday’s warm-up clash against Haiti was not the most important thing for the New Zealand team to take out of it, a 4-0 loss to the Caribbean nation was not in the script.
That score line did not reflect the All Whites’ overall performance in the contest but did present some questions to address in the defensive line.
In a clash between the two lowest-ranked teams to qualify for the World Cup, the Haitians (No 83) gave the All Whites (85) a wake-up call in terms of what mistakes will lead to on the biggest stage in football, with three of their four goals being the result of defensive lapses.
All Whites coach Darren Bazeley was able to get some game time into the legs of plenty of his squad, including a half each for goalkeepers Alex Paulsen and Max Crocombe who are vying for the No 1 spot come the start of the tournament.
Haiti opened the scoring 12 minutes into the contest, which was delayed by 30 minutes due to the threat of lightning, when Ruben Providence snuck in behind Tim Payne and received a lovely ball to his feet from Wilson Isidor. A good turn left Payne behind him, Finn Surman couldn’t close him down, and he beat Paulsen from a tight angle.
The New Zealand side had some good moments, and responded well in the first half after falling behind. Despite conceding early, the Kiwis dictated the majority of the half in terms of possession and had several opportunities.
Payne had appeals for a penalty midway through the half after appearing to get clipped by Haitian goalkeeper Johny Placide turned away, with no VAR in play for the match, Placide kept out shots on target from Chris Wood and Marko Stamenic, while Jesse Randall launched a couple off target from beyond the box.
It wasn’t until the second half, and after the All Whites had made a host of changes, that Haiti struck again. Left on his own in a big gap between All Whites defenders Michael Boxall and Francis de Vries, Lenny Joseph was put through on goal and showed strength to fend off the covering challenges from the two beaten defenders to score.
Not long after, Frantzdy Pierrot was gifted a free header in the middle of the box as Surman drifted away from his man towards the near post. The Haitian forward made no mistake to give his side a 3-0 lead with just under 30 minutes to play.
While they looked good in the first half, the All Whites didn’t manage the same sort of impact in the second half until the game had gotten away from them.
A fourth to Haiti in the 87th minute – a magnificent strike in broken play from Duke Lacroix curling around the outstretched arm of Crocombe – pushed the margin out further, with the New Zealand side having plenty to consider ahead of Sunday’s friendly against England.
All Whites 0
Haiti 4 (Ruben Providence 12’, Lenny Joseph 51’, Frantzdy Pierrot 62’, Duke Lacroix 87’)
HT: 0-1
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