Chris Wood marked his first game as All Whites captain with a late equaliser to earn New Zealand a 1-1 draw with China in Nanchang this morning.
New Zealand 1
China 1
After a night of frustrating finishing for the All Whites, Wood turned a half chance into a great goal by clinically nodding home a cross from 18-year old debutant Deklan Wynne on the penalty spot in the 86th minute.
It was a deserved draw for the young New Zealand side, who had an average age of 21, pressed hard all over the park, looked dynamic on attack but a little susceptible in defence.
The Kiwis fell behind to a wonder strike just before halftime when Chinese striker Wu Lei belted a half volley into the top corner from outside the box.
It's staggering that there weren't more goals in such an open, entertaining, even match that created so many clear cut opportunities.
For New Zealand Bill Tuiloma hit the post with a header in the first half, Wood and Tim Payne both missed sitters from six yards out while Kosta Barbarouses fluffed his lines in a one on one in the second half. China's finishing was wayward too, and they could have had three or four first half goals but for some last gasp New Zealand defending and a number of nice saves from debutant goalkeeper Jake Gleeson.
But this was a much improved New Zealand performance from Anthony Hudson's first game in charge against Uzbekistan. The attacking quartet of Marco Rojas, Ryan Thomas, Barbarouses and Wood kept the Chinese defence under constant pressure with their high press, while Tommy Smith was a welcome addition at the heart of the New Zealand defence and hardly put a foot wrong.
Wynne got a pass mark in his first attempt at locking down the troublesome left back spot, but the back four lacked cohesion at times and looked vulnerable to balls in behind.
Wood, who is the first striker to captain the All Whites since Brian Turner in 1978, led the line well in the first half, but disappeared a little in the second, before popping up with the equaliser.
The powerful Leicester City striker may not always look the most elegant, but he has an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time and his ability to consistently score goals makes him one of Hudson's most valuable players.
Ultimately, it was a good result for New Zealand and an encouraging display. China haven't lost in their last seven internationals, recently beat Paraguay and have a squad comprised fully of players that play in the China, meaning they train and play together a lot. They also sit 43 places abover NZ in the FIFA rankings.
Hudson, who will get another look at his young squad on Wednesday morning against Thailand, was excited about the result.
"I thought that the players were excellent," he said after the match. "I thought what they gave in terms of intensity, in terms of effort - you know, all the things we lacked against Uzbekistan - I thought we got the opposite tonight."
Hudson's only quibble with the perfomance was that, at times, his young side lacked control.
"We played at such a high tempo, I thought we could have slowed the game down just a little bit and tried to be a little bit more patient with the ball. But ... it's still early days, and these are just things we keep tweaking every time we're together.
"There were certainly good periods where we played decent football. We were real positive and bright and had good movement, and we created good chances as well.
"I felt we should have scored at least another two or three goals, but at least we were creating the chances."
Hudson said Wood's late equaliser was just reward for the industry the All Whites showed on attack.
"If we had come away from this game and not scored I think it would have been very, very undeserved," he said. "We deserved at least one goal tonight.
"You're never going to come to a place like this and have it all your own way ... I thought we were very brave tonight. I'm very, very pleased."
