FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Sports

The Winston Reid Effect: How New Zealand Are Building Perfectly For The Next World Cup

Mixing youth, experience and a first-class Premier League talent, English coach Anthony Hudson is shaping a Kiwi team with World Cup potential.
PA Images

This article was originally published on VICE Sports AUNZ

Hand a low-scoring draw with the United States to any New Zealand football coach over the last few decades, and you'll find a man who looks like he's won the Lotto. Why not, too? Beyond the European and South American footballing giants, the United States – ranked 22nd in the official FIFA standings – are properly big time. They've got the money and the millions of players to draw talent from.

Advertisement

On the other hand, New Zealand – ranked 88th overall – are merely a perennial underdog; a rock fish in the shallow Oceania pond who may have a lucky result here and there, but will ultimately be scuttled by a total lack of quality in depth. Yet when the final whistle blew at the Robert F Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington DC last week – and both New Zealand and the US team walked from the field after a 1-1 draw – something else was clearly on the wind for the Kiwis.

It was a confirmation. That New Zealand – one of the fastest rising nations in the FIFA rankings – were clearly building the core of a team that has the capability to do what only two other All Whites sides have done. To qualify for a FIFA World Cup.

When you start unpacking how, and why, New Zealand are doing this – especially as the All Whites are just four months removed from an OFC Nations Cup campaign that only just saw them squeak past Papua New Guinea on penalties – you'll find the reasons are legion. One stands above the rest, though. Let's call it the Winston Reid Effect.

Reid – a coveted player as far as the Premier League is concerned – is New Zealand's finest footballer, but has seen his international appearances over the past three seasons limited due to injury and his club commitments with West Ham.

The Hammers defender returned for both of New Zealand's recent games against the United States and Mexico, in Nashville on October 8, and his impact was obvious.

Advertisement

In both matches, Reid – the only New Zealander in the Premier League – marshalled the Kiwi defensive line with strong-headed poise and an unrushed confidence that seemed to hark back to the Ryan Nelsen glory days at the heart of defence. All Whites coach Anthony Hudson labeled Reid "first class" following their 2-1 defeat to Mexico, while his fellow players confirmed how much his talent was rubbing off on everyone else.

"When you have Winston Reid coming back into the squad, you add so much," fellow defender Michael Boxall told VICE Sports AUNZ. "It's kind of like the rising tide raising all boats. Everyone else steps up."

The New Zealand defensive unit has been one in flux since Hudson took over as coach from Ricki Herbert – who took the All Whites to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – in 2014. Yet the recent additions – Chesterfield's Liam Graham, on debut against Mexico, and San Jose Earthquakes defender Kip Colvey – looked motivated and competent against both the US and Mexico, laying a platform from which the Kiwi midfield could ably counterattack.

Hudson himself deserves plenty of credit for the All Whites renaissance. A former West Ham youth rep who played alongside Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick, the 35-year-old Englishman has shaken the New Zealand football scene since his appointment in September 2014.

Almost as soon as he arrived, Hudson made his feelings heard on the administrative failings of the organisation – and the need for the All Whites to conduct themselves as a better, high-performance outfit. His resources were limited from the get-go, but Hudson – whose father played for Chelsea and Stoke back in the 70s – kicked off a worldwide Kiwi player eligibility search that even saw him ring up English radio to make his pitch.

Advertisement

Anthony Hudson led the All Whites on a successful US tour this month // Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today Sports

The search unearthed the likes of Blackpool's Henry Cameron and PAS Giannina's Themistoklis Tzimopoulos, who are both now Kiwi squad regulars. Hudson also made use of the young talent coming through the national youth system. New Zealand have made the last three FIFA Under-20 World Cups, hosting last year's tournament and reaching the Round of 16.

Incredibly, nine players from that squad have since made their senior international debuts, including midfielder Bill Tuiloma – who plays for Ligue 1's Marseille – and Ipswich striker Monty Patterson, who scored against the US in Washington. Goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic was a member of the Kiwi side at the 2011 Under-20 World Cup in Colombia – and looks likely to be the All Whites keeper for the next decade.

Hudson took plenty of criticism for the amount of caps he awarded to young players early on, but former All White striker Harry Ngata says the blooding of this 'golden generation' has been crucial in the changing shape of the team. "He copped a lot of flak from the likes of Steve Sumner and Kevin Fallon and that generation who saw him as handing out caps willy-nilly," Ngata says. "I think he probably had to do that to see how wide the net was, how wide he could cast it. But you can see now, it was worth it."

Such is always the issue when you coach New Zealand; the lack of depth. Thanks to Hudson's work, the All Whites have this in a way that they haven't since perhaps the 2010 World Cup campaign. Despite the impressive results against the Untied States and Mexico, New Zealand were still missing two first-team regulars in Tuiloma and PEC Zwolle winger Ryan Thomas. Nonetheless, they did well.

Advertisement

Add Thomas into the attacking mix with Leeds United's Chris Wood and Melbourne Victory's Marco Rojas – who, freshly returned from his failed European sojourn, looks eager to recapture his Johnny Warren Medal-winning form in the A-League – and you've got a counter-attacking unit that builds on everything Winston Reid marshals from the back.

Reid – who made his debut under Herbert during the build-up to the famed South African campaign – is full of praise for Hudson and the way he has shaped the current New Zealand group. Work ethic has always been a key part of the All Whites psyche, but now, Reid says, so too is absolute tactical preparation.

The New Zealand football team, before their 1-1 draw with the United States // Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports.

"We've always had that in our team – the New Zealand teams I've been part of," Reid says. "We've worked hard and everyone's dug in for each other. But now, I think we've got a better tactical approach to games, which will help us further on.

"We're understanding, more and more, how to play to our strengths other than our weaknesses. Just in general, I think we're better prepared as a group, more so than before."

Ngata agrees: "That's the game plan, or methodology Anthony wants to employ – and everyone understands that. Winston is obviously only going to be coming from time to time, but if he isn't, you've still got to have your business hat on. There's no mucking around."

The New Zealand results match up with the concept of Hudson's All White renaissance. After suffering three losses and a draw in his first four matches in charge of New Zealand, the All Whites have only lost one of their last nine – and that was against Mexico, in Nashville.

New Zealand's next test comes in November, with two Ocean World Cup qualifiers against New Caledonia. The final games of the group will come against Fiji next March, before the All Whites head away to the Confederations Cup in Russia in June. With all due respect to the Island nations, that will be the next time the All Whites play top-drawer competition. Reid has said he wants to be back for both November matches for New Zealand, so that he can help to ensure a Kiwi path to the Oceania finals next August and September.

After that, a date with the fifth-placed South American team looms to secure passage to Russia. That could be anyone from Brazil, to Colombia or Chile. That's a big ask, for anyone.

But while you can't imagine Hudson resting on his laurels at the moment, it's worth noting he's helped his team move the stone back on a little bit of history in the last week. The Kiwi draw against the US was just the third time since 1999 that the Americans have been held at the RFK Memorial Stadium – the national team's unofficial home. Even Germany and Argentina – who have both played the States there in that time – couldn't manage it.

If you're outdoing the last two World Cup finalists, you know you're doing something right.