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ON THE EDGE

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New Zealand came into the FIFA World Cup 2010 with an expectation that they would be the whipping boys, but they finished the tournament as the only team not to have suffered a defeat. Even the eventual champions Spain suffered a defeat over the course of the tournament. Much of the success was attributed to the three defenders at the back formation for New Zealand. National team coach Ricki Herbert, though, is willing to try out a few things before his team reaches the 2014 World Cup. New Zealand are extremely close to reaching the second consecutive World Cup.

The only have to negotiate a play-off match from a team in the CONCAF region and it is likely to be Mexico. Ahead of the match with Saudi Arabia in the OSN Cup, Herbert said that he wants to switch to a defensive four formation. This could see only Tommy Smith and Winston Reid as the centre backs, while Tony Lochhead will be playing at left back. It is expected that either Leo Bertos or Ben Sigmund will be picked to play in the right back position. Speaking ahead of this match, Herbert said that he wants New Zealand to be ready for any possible situation. He is willing to try out a few things in this match.

“We’re going to try a whole raft of things and see how it goes. Some might work, some might not. Siggy played at right back against China [last year] and he did a good job. Leo could play fullback but Tony will probably play left back, with Winston, Tommy and Glen Moss in goal. It’s going to be incredibly demanding. But it’s more about, are players comfortable in their roles, do we feel we’ve got the right sort of connections, the right sort of links?” said Herbert.

PASTON RETIRES

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The former Wellington Phoenix goalie, Mark Paston, has announced his retirement from international football.

Paston had quit club football in March this year. At that time, he had said that he might continue playing international football. But, after assessing his condition in the last few months, he decided to quit football completely.

Talking to the reporters while announcing his retirement, Paston said, “I have enjoyed my time away from football in the last few months and I think this is the right time for me to hang the boots.”

“I am excited about my future life. I will be doing something new and I want to have my focus on that.”

“I want to thank my fans for giving me tremendous support over the years. I also want to wish my teammates best of luck for the remaining World Cup qualifying matches. We have a very good chance to make it to the World Cup finals for the second time in a row.”

Meanwhile, the manager of the New Zealand team Ricki Herbert has hailed Paston for being a great servant of New Zealand football.

Herbert said, “Mark was one of the most passionate footballers I have ever worked with. He was a manager’s delight.”

“His contribution in the 2010 World Cup campaign was immense. The saves that he had made in both the qualifying games against Bahrain were fantastic.”

“Obviously, losing him at this point of time is a big blow for us. He was one of the most experienced guys in the team and we needed him for the rest of our qualifying campaign. But, he thought that the time had come for him to move on and we should respect his decision.”

Paston made a total of 36 appearances for the New Zealand team.

NELSEN SETTLES IN

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Ryan Nelsen has slowly begun to settle down at Toronto FC. The former New Zealand international was appointed as the head coach of Toronto FC in January this year. The club officials had huge expectations from him, but, Nelsen couldn’t live up to those expectations in the first few matches.

Toronto FC managed to secure just one victory in its first 12 MLS matches this season. Nelsen had to face a lot of criticism for that and there were talks about his sacking.

But, in the last 3 weeks or so, Toronto FC has shown improvement in its performance. The team has secured 5 points in the last 3 games with a win over DC United and has moved up one position in the Eastern Conference Points table. They are still at no. 9 though.

When asked about his team’s performance in the season so far, Nelsen said, “We were not up to the mark in the first few games, but, in the last couple of weeks, we have had some positive results and that has raised the confidence level of the team.”

“I don’t think we have played that badly. If you see the results, we have lost most of the matches just by one goal. No team has really been able to thrash us, but, it’s the points which matter and we haven’t got enough of them.”

Nelsen also admitted that the arrival of Steven Caldwell from Birmingham City on loan has strengthened the defense of his team.

Nelsen said, “Steven is highly experienced and his arrival has certainly made our defense strong. He has so far shown good form and we are hoping that he will continue in the same manner in the rest of the season as well.”