New Zealand v Honduras
North Harbour Stadium, 7.30pm tonight
It will be pretty much business as usual when New Zealand tackle Honduras at North Harbour Stadium tonight with any tweaking set to bring much-anticipated flair to the home team's attack.
With Rory Fallon sidelined by injury, All Whites coach Ricki Herbert will go with a more conventional three-pronged attack rather than going with the "Lone Ranger" role played by Fallon as the target. Instead Shane Smeltz and Chris Killen will be joined by rookie Chris Wood who gets to start after three games off the bench at the World Cup in South Africa.
"We will change things a little," said Herbert yesterday. "The midfielders [Tim Brown and Simon Elliott] will play deeper, but otherwise not much will change."
Brown slips back into the starting line-up with Ivan Vicelich, who took the injured Brown's midfield role in the Republic, slipping back to his more customary defensive role in the spot vacated by the absent Tommy Smith.
In the other changes, Leo Bertos takes Tony Lochhead's roving left-side role with Jeremy Brockie coming in for Bertos on the right.
Herbert said Lochhead, who is recovering from "quite a serious operation" will join Smith and now-retired internationals James Bannatyne and Andy Barron as the only members of the World Cup squad not involved in tonight's game and the return fixture with Paraguay in Wellington on Tuesday.
He welcomed the move by the Honduran camp in agreeing with up to six substitutes for the matches. The visitors simply going along with Fifa rules for so-called "friendlies".
Asked whether he had any concerns with Elliott's lack of recent match play - he has barely kicked a ball since the Cup - Herbert said he was not worried.
"Simon had not played much before the World Cup and he got through there with no problems," said Herbert. "These games are not about who is going to go 90 minutes full on."
Asked whether the Fifa ranking aspect of the game was important, Honduras coach Juan de Dios Castillo said "obviously rankings are important".
Pressed further on whether the footballing public in Honduras would be happy with a loss, Dios Castillo said that like any coach he wants to win. "We are preparing for a big competition - the Gold Cup - in January and this is a great opportunity to continue our preparations against a big team," said Dios Castillo, who replaced Reinaldo Rueda after the World Cup and put "Los Catrachos" out for matches against El Salvador (drew 2-2 before losing on penalties) and Canada (lost 2-1) in the last Fifa window.
The visitors have eight players from their World Cup squad here. Dios Castillo says all will start.
Herbert again reiterated that the ASB International Series was the chance for the players and staff to acknowledge the support they had received from the New Zealand public during the World Cup campaign.
"That, more than anything, is what this is about," said Herbert. "The chance to thank the public and, just as importantly, give the players a rare chance to play at home."
While both teams were hardly prolific goal-scoring sides at the World Cup, there is the feeling the shackles might come off tonight and the hoped-for 20,000-strong crowd will be handed a rare footballing treat.
New Zealand v Honduras
* North Harbour Stadium
* Today 7.30pm (live SS2)
* Referee: Kevin Stoltenkamp (NZ)
New Zealand (probable): Mark Paston, Winston Reid, Ryan Nelsen, Ivan Vicelich, Simon Elliott, Tim Brown, Jeremy Brockie, Leo Bertos, Shane Smeltz, Chris Killen, Chris Wood. Substitutes (from): Glen Moss, Andy Boyens, Ben Sigmund, Michael McGlinchey, Jeremy Christie, Aaron Clapham, David Mulligan, Rory Fallon, Cole Peverley.
Honduras (from): Noel Valladares, Ricardo Canales, Sergio Mendoza, Maynor Figueroa, Quiarol Arzu, Johnny Palacios, Erick Norales, Ivan Guerrero, Mauricio Sabillon, Jorge Claros, Eder Delgado, Mario Martinez, Oscar Garcia, David Meza, Emil Martinez, Ramon Nunez, Edgard Alvarez, Alexander Lopez, Georgie Welcome, Roger Rojas, Jerry Bengtson, Ruben Licona, Walter Martinez.
