The world’s biggest sporting event is now well and truly under way, and New Zealand is poised to take to its stage today. At 1pm the All Whites and Iran clash at the Fifa World Cup, a game which — hopefully — will be shorn of some of its political undertones now that the United States and Iran have brokered a provisional peace deal to end their conflict. While the shooting was ongoing New Zealand were, for 90 minutes anyway, likely to be adopted by supporters of tournament co-hosts the US as their second team. The Iranians, meanwhile, whose build-up to this match has suffered major war-related disruption, will have been wanting to lay down a marker on the soil of the ‘‘Great Satan’’. Both these things may still be true, but a peace deal means that some of the sting should have been taken out of the match and this may, potentially be an occasion purely about football rather than geo-politics. Chris Wood. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Gauging where New Zealand rates against Iran is no easy feat. The All Whites are the lowest-ranked team from the 48 which qualified for the tournament, but this country’s ranking is usually lower due to the limited number of internationals the team plays. Iran, meanwhile, have historically been one of the stronger sides in Asia, and qualified for the World Cup with some ease. However, with a squad almost entirely drawn from its own national league, assessing its team against New Zealand’s assortment of players from European, US and Australian leagues is difficult. There should be no lack of motivation for the All Whites. Given the other teams in their group, the Mohammed Salah-inspired Egypt and the star-studded Belgium, the game against Iran is the match which has been targetted right from the start as the one where New Zealand could conceivably score its first ever win at a World Cup. Certainly if the team is to achieve its stated aim of qualifying for the next stage of the tournament, no result other than a win will suffice. Much will rest on the shoulders of skipper Chris Wood, the All Whites’ sole genuine world-class player and established star in England’s Premier League. Questions remain over just how fit Wood is after an injury-disrupted season, and whether New Zealand’s playmakers — Elijah Just, Sarpreet Singh and Liberato Cacace — will be afforded the time and space to play telling balls in his direction. However, one area of the side in which greater confidence can be reposed is the defence. New Zealand has some redoubtable centre backs and talented goalkeepers who should be able to cope with the pressure of playing at a World Cup. New Zealand’s form in its warm-up games has been patchy. If the side which meekly folded against Haiti turns up, this will be a long afternoon for Kiwis in Los Angeles for the game or watching from further afield. But if the team which defended so resolutely in its narrow loss against England and sparkled so brightly on attack when dismantling Chile shows up, this may well be another memorable day in New Zealand sporting history. Our transtasman neighbours have shown us the way. Australia’s 2-0 win over Turkey on Sunday NZT was unexpected, but the All Whites squad is similar in that it is selected from a world-wide player base. The beauty of football is that a well-coached, well-drilled and confident team can hold its own and some over more storied rivals. It is quite feasible that today that could be New Zealand.
