All members, apart from a not yet fully fit Mark Paston and a virus stricken Marco Rojas, took part in the match with numbers boosted by a quartet of U-20 players, three of them on the bench.
The match was designed to give out-of-season A-League and ASB Premiership players some valuable match fitness and All Whites coach Ricki Herbert was satisfied to bank those minutes and blow out the cobwebs.
“We wanted to have guys on the pitch for the full 90 minutes and we managed to do that,” Herbert said.
“I was pleasantly surprised at what the players showed. We were operating at about 60 per cent but some were higher than that.
“Kosta Barbarouses was lively tonight but he’s had a month of training. Jeremy Brockie was lively too but he’s only had a week of training.
“The players did what they needed to do tonight. It wasn’t about the result, it was just about getting mileage into the legs.”
Ben Sigmund’s powerful header from a Michael McGlinchey corner just before halftime was the only goal of the first spell but Jeremy Brockie’s stunning 30-yard volley eight minutes into the second half signalled a loosening of the game.
Barbarouses got reward for his industry with his 57th minute goal, a low shot squeezed inside the far post of Waitakere goalkeeper Danny Robinson and Tim Brown headed in a fourth from a McGlinchey cross fives minute later to round out the All Whites’ scoring.
New Zealand U-20 defender Anthony Hobbs chipped in a consolation goal for Waitakere as the All Whites failed to fully clear a corner.
The All Whites train twice more this week before flying out to Denver on Saturday afternoon.
Training match
Trusts Stadium, Auckland
Australasian-based All Whites: 4 (Ben SIGMUND 45’, Jeremy BROCKIE 53’, Kosta BARBAROUSES 57’, Tim BROWN 62’)
Waitakere United Invitational: 1 (Anthony HOBBS 86’)
All Whites: Glen MOSS (gk), Cameron LINDSAY (Nick BRANCH 71’), Ivan VICELICH (Nikko BOXALL 87’), Ben SIGMUND, Jeremy BROCKIE (Sean LOVEMORE 79’), Tim BROWN, David MULLIGAN, Michael McGLINCHEY, Shane SMELTZ, Kosta BARBAROUSES, Aaron CLAPHAM.
Coach Ricki HERBERT
Waitakere United Invitational: Danny ROBINSON (gk / Scott ARMISTEAD 86’), Aaron SCOTT (Ross McKENZIE 58’), Ryan ELDER, Martin BULLOCK (Zane SOLE 58’), Allan PEARCE, Roy KRISHNA (Ross Haviland 58’), Tim PAYNE (Chad COOMBES 46’), Jake BUTLER, Dakota LUCAS, Anthony HOBBS.
Coach: Darren BAZELEY
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz