But at 1.25pm in Rustenburg, as the New Zealand national anthem reverberated around the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Ryan Nelsen was fighting – and fighting hard – to hold back tears….
The Denmark-based defender found the net from a perfectly-flighted Shane Smeltz cross in the 93rd minute to give the Kiwis an improbable 1-1 draw against a dominant Slovakia side in…
Today, New Zealand will finally make their long-awaited FIFA World Cup comeback exactly 28 years to the day since a group of amateur players from the ‘Land of the Long…
The imposing marksman has already played two of his West Bromwich Albion team mates – Slovenia’s Robert Koren and Chile’s Gonzalo Jara – during the build-up to South Africa and…
The All Whites are appearing in the finals for only the second time and, having lost all three matches in Spain in 1982, are still looking for a first point…
Oceania Football Confederation men’s player of the year and the squad’s most capped player Ivan Vicelich (66 caps) will partner Simon Elliott – who is only three caps behind the…
Messages have been flooding in to the team via letters, email, Facebook and Twitter and skipper Nelsen says the backing since the team assembled in mid-May has been overwhelming. “It’s…
With New Zealand having reached the finals for the first time since 1982 and for only the second time in their history, the Middlesbrough forward is determined to make the…
The vice-captain has recovered well from the problem suffered against Australia on May 24 but is not yet 100 per cent fit, with officials having until 24 hours before Tuesday’s…
The All Whites are rank outsiders for the FIFA World Cup but caught the eye recently with a friendly win over Serbia.“We have seen the New Zealanders play against Serbia,”…