The All Whites World Cup dream continues when they face current World Cup Holders Italy on Monday June 21 in Nelspruit, and after the great draw with Slovakia anything seems possible.

A nervous and hesitant Slovakia, playing in their first World Cup Finals, allowed New Zealand to have the better of the opening 20 minutes and then after dominating for a long period of the game, seemed to settle into the idea they could coast home to a comfortable 1-0 victory, when with just a few minutes on the clock the All Whites dug a bit deeper, threw players forward, and grabbed a thrilling equaliser from the head of the outstanding Winston Reid.

Winston Reid scores the goal against Slovakia (image by Reuters)

Can the All Whites improve on this performance and get a result against the current World champions?

Although Mark Paston was a bit shaky, like a number of goalies at the tournament, he couldn’t be blamed for the Slovakian goal and the defence ably led by Ryan Nelsen was strong and resolute for most of the game.

Reid and Smith both looked composed and they stroke the ball very well when knocking it forward which gives the receiving player more time and space to control it which will be vital against the tight and smothering marking ability of the Italians.

Bertos and Lockhead work hard up and down the flanks and their defensive efforts have been critical to containing their quick and skilful opponents in recent matches but neither has the pace or creativity to realistically beat defenders and get in behind defences when playing at this level.

They seem to accept this limitation and sensibly look to keep possession when going forward by pushing the ball inside to a mid fielder, back to a defender or up to the front 3 strikers who still need to refine their running off the ball and showing themselves for an early delivery.

Simon Elliott in the midfield had an outstanding match in general play, covering an enormous amount of ground and linking up with both the defence and attack throughout the whole game, proving that even at 36 years old he is supremely fit and capable, and his English Premier League experience with Fulham holds him in good stead too.

However, somewhat unusually for a player of his high standards, some of his dead ball deliveries were not good.

Failing to get the ball up and over the first line of defence and on one occasion hitting a potentially dangerous free kick too long to be of any value to his attackers, as the ball floated out for a goal kick.

These dead ball situations, of which we had quite a few in the first half, are this team’s biggest potential attacking weapon and simply can’t be wasted against these highly ranked teams and every one must be exceuted with the utmost care and precision if we are to get a good result against Italy and/or Paraguay.

It is in these situations where the player delivering the freekick, without any direct opposition pressure on him, should be able to deliver the ball into the exact right position, perfectly weighted for maximum effect in what should be a very well rehearsed and practised move that represents our very best chance of scoring any goals.

Far too many of these opportunities were wasted against Slovakia and hopefully this will be improved upon in the next couple of games.

Shane Smeltz played a very intelligent and elusive role in the first match, twice getting into superb positions unmarked only to strike the ball wide in the first half and then head the ball away from goal with only minutes to go before expertly creating space for himself and then producing a world class cross which Reid finished off for the wonderful late goal that would have devastated Slovakia.

Killen worked hard and had a few chances, in particular the early header in front of goal which he should have done better with but he will need to lift his urgency and sense of hunger if he is to seriously cause Italy problems and earn himself a new professional contract in Britain other than as a journeyman target man in the lower divisions, which is where he appears to be heading after the World Cup.

Fallon also needs to be more accurate and committed when competing for the very winnable high balls that constantly come in his direction, and on a number of occasions he misread the flight and/or weight of the pass and mistimed and/or misdirected some of his jumps which should be the strength of his game.

He has also become a big off the field talker with the media and might be better to focus and concentrate on delivering an on field performance at the highest level possible to make the level of contribution, and therefore presence, he is capable of.

The Italians have built up a huge reputation for their exceptional defensive play over many years, particularly in World Cup Tournaments, and their organsation, teamwork and commitment in defence will place enormous pressure on our attackers and therefore every single opportunity going forward must be valued and relished if the All Whites are to get something out of this game.

After a draw against Paraguay and having seen the mistakes Slovakia made in their match with the All Whites, the Italians will be looking for a decisive victory, including a possible focus on boosting their goal difference should the game open up for them to take advantage of, so this will be a very serious test of just how good our All Whites team really is.

With the confidence they would have got from the Slovakia result and performance, building on their excellent preparation and the belief that genuinely exists within this team, it is quite real and possible that this All Whites dream could continue with a result against World Champion Italy that would rank not only as one of New Zealand sport’s greatest achievements but also as one of the best ever in the history of World Cup Final’s Football.