Stuart Holthusen of New Zealand celebrates after scoring a goal during the FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 Round of 16 match between Portugal and New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
Stuart Holthusen of New Zealand celebrates after scoring a goal during the FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 Round of 16 match between Portugal and New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
New Zealand's match with Portugal had everything last night - except the crowd it deserved.
The game was full of drama and the home side came to the party, with by far their best performance of the tournament.
Unfortunately Waikato sports fans didn't.
The 24,000 capacity stadium was less thanhalf full, which seems a bit of mystery. It was the biggest football occasion in Hamilton for years - maybe even decades. There won't be a bigger game for a while either, as the Wellington Phoenix are unlikely to play there in the near future.
As a sporting event, surely it was appealing. A knock-out match, at Fifa's second biggest tournament, featuring the home team.
The distance and kick off time obviously put off most Aucklanders, but what about the locals? Surely after a day enjoying Fieldays a night at the stadium would have capped it off.
Ticket prices seem more than fair, and the tournament has been well marketed, although local feedback would suggest that this particular game could have been promoted more heavily.
Maybe Hamilton fans, who showed reasonable support for the group games featuring Portugal, Colombia, Qatar and Senegal, had exhausted their budgets and not counted on New Zealand being part of this second round fixture? Perhaps the crowd of just over 10,000 represents the peak level of football interest in the Waikato and the tournament hasn't quite captured the interest of general sports fans in the region. Or maybe the lure of one more ale at Fieldays was too hard to resist, or the predicted bad weather put punters off.
Whatever the underlying reason, it was a shame. The modest crowd still created a great atmosphere - especially after the New Zealand goal - but the occasion deserved a full house, or close to it.
