A massive upset looked possible in the 57th minute when Hawke’s Bay United forward Andy Bevin met the pinpoint cross of fit-again Marco Rojas with a brave diving header at the end of a right-hand move also involving Dakota Lucas and Ryan Cain.
Lucas almost doubled the lead five minutes later but his stinging shot on the counter attack was just batted away by Uruguay goalkeeper Salvador Ichazo.
The star turn for New Zealand however came from goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic who typified New Zealand’s gritty defensive effort under immense pressure from the South Americans with a string of saves and well-timed punches in an inspirational man of the match performance.
His near point blank save to push Cesar Texeira’s shot over the bar with his trailing hand in the 38th minute was world class and the best of the German-based stopper’s key interventions to earn the Junior All Whites a valuable point – their second of the tournament following an opening 1-1 draw with Cameroon.
Diego Polenta sent a stunning strike into the top corner of Marinovic’s net late in the first half but the whistle had already blown for an earlier offence.
Marinovic was finally beaten by Espanyol forward Adrian Luna 16 minutes from time after a well worked one-two with Texeira, denying the Junior All Whites an historic win. Despite late pressure from Uruguay, the Kiwi defence held firm.
“I thought we played very well,” said New Zealand coach Chris Milicich.
“Our defending is becoming outstanding and we created and took a very good goal. We’ve made a mistake on the right hand channel, Stefan’s got a little flat-footed and they’ve gone level.”
Milicich said his goalkeeper’s display would naturally draw interest.
“We knew how good Stefan is and now people everywhere else are seeing that. It’s nice for the New Zealand public to see him play and I can tell you there’s a lot of talk about him now.”
With New Zealand’s match followed by Portugal’s clash against Cameroon, the draw temporarily put New Zealand on top of the pool.
A win in the final group match against Portugal would secure progress to the round of 16 as one of the group’s top two teams, although a draw may be enough to clinch one of the four spots for best third-place finishers if other results go their way.
“We don’t know yet what will be needed but we do know this is one of the tightest groups in the tournament,” Milicich said.
FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011
Group B
Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero
Cali, Colombia
New Zealand 1 (Andy BEVIN 57’)
Uruguay 1 (Adrian LUNA 74’)
Halftime: 0-0
New Zealand: 1-Stefan MARINOVIC (gk), 2-Andrew BEVIN, 3-Nick BRANCH (c), 4-Ryan CAIN (12-Andrew MILNE 85’), 10-Anthony HOBBS, 11-Dakota LUCAS (5-Sean LOVEMORE 74’), 13-Colin MURPHY, 14-James MUSA, 15-Marco ROJAS (7-Cameron LINDSAY 76’), 16-Luke ROWE, 18-Adam THOMAS.
Substitutes not used: 6-Nikko BOXALL, 8-Ethan GALBRAITH, 9-Tim PAYNE, 17-Mikey KRAMER, 19-Liam HIGGINS, 20-Scott BASALAJ (rgk), 21-Coey TURIPA (rgk).
Coach: Chris MILICICH
Cautions: Dakota LUCAS 34’, James MUSA 83’, Nick BRANCH 90+1’, Andrew MILNE 90+2’
Uruguay: 1-Salvador ICHAZO (gk), 3-Diego POLENTA (c), 4-Guillermo DE LOS SANTOS, 5-Angel CAYETANO, 6-Leandro CABRERA, 7-Adrian LUNA, 8-Matias VECINO, 10-Pablo CEPELLINI, 11-Cesar TEXEIRA (19-Diego ROLAN 85’), 13-Maximiliano OLIVERA (20-Ignacio LORES 66’), 18-Camilo MAYADA.
Substitutes not used: 2-Federico PLATERO, 9-Federico RODRIGUEZ, 12-Leandro GELPI (rgk), 14-Ramon ARIAS, 15-Santiago MARTINEZ, 16-Nicolas PRIETO, 17-Yefferson MOREIRA, 19-Diego ROLAN, 21-Alexander DA SILVA (rgk).
Coach: Juan VERZERI
Cautions: None
Upcoming match
New Zealand v Portugal
Cali, Colombia
August 5, 2011
5pm (10am August 6 NZT)
Sky Sport 2
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz