Midfielder Colin Murphy profited from a scintillating left-flank run from Ethan Galbraith, who had minutes earlier had an effort of his own disallowed, collecting a pass from the targetman on the edge of the box and rifling New Zealand into a 59th-minute lead.
As was the case in the 2-1 loss to Ventura County, the Junior All Whites finishing did not match their creativity and Southern California made them pay with a 89th-minute goal to take a share of the spoils.
The Junior All Whites arrive in Colombia on Monday (NZT) and, with New Zealand’s World Cup opener against Cameroon just a week away, coach Chris Milicich is happy with the American leg of the team’s build-up.
“It’s been invaluable preparation,” Milicich says.
“It’s been hot and the players have had to play in difficult conditions against difficult opposition. Today, Southern California brought 23 players and rattled them on and off meaning we were always playing against 11 fresh players which was great.
“We started extremely well and that’s a key to what we’re trying to do but allowed them to score in the 89th minute on a breakaway.
“We had numerous chances to wrap it up but just couldn’t put them away. It’s been a trend on tour that we haven’t converted the chances we create so our finishing is certainly something we will work on when we hit Colombia.”
Milicich says his thoughts on a best 11 are taking shape.
“I think we’re getting closer to knowing our starting 11 for Cameroon next Saturday. A couple of players in the second half put their hands up today and we’ll keep a close eye on them but we’re quickly getting to where we need to be.”
The Junior All Whites face Cameroon on Sunday 31 July (NZT) before taking on Uruguay on Wednesday 3 August (NZT) and completing pool play against Portugal on Saturday 6 August (NZT). All of New Zealand’s Group B games will be played in the city of Cali.
The top two teams from each of the six groups and the four best third-placed teams progress to the round of 16.
Southern California 1 (89’)
New Zealand U-20 1 (Colin MURPHY 59’)
Halftime: 0-0
New Zealand U-20: 1-Stefan MARINOVIC (gk), 3-Nick BRANCH (captain), 2-Andrew BEVIN, 10-Anthony HOBBS, 11-Dakota LUCAS (8-Ethan GALBRAITH 46’), 12-Andrew MILNE (9-Tim PAYNE 56’), 13-Colin MURPHY, 14-James MUSA, 15-Marco ROJAS, 16-Luke ROWE, 18-Adam THOMAS (7-Cameron LINDSAY 44’).
Substitutes not used: 4-Ryan CAIN, 5-Sean LOVEMORE, 6-Nikko BOXALL, 17-Mikey KRAMER, 19-Liam HIGGINS, 20-Scott BASALAJ (rgk), 21-Coey TURIPA (rgk).
Coach: Chris MILICICH
FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011
July 29 – August 20
New Zealand v Cameroon
Cali, Colombia
July 30, 2011
5pm (10am July 31 NZT)
New Zealand v Uruguay
Cali, Colombia
August 2, 2011
5pm (10am August 3 NZT)
New Zealand v Portugal
Cali, Colombia
August 5, 2011
5pm (10am August 6 NZT)
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz