Olympics: Oly-Whites draw with Egypt

For 40 minutes, the New Zealand men's football side might have thought Old Trafford in Manchester was their Theatre of Dreams.

Striker Chris Wood scored in the 17th minute when he nodded in simply from a Tommy Smith flick-on to give his side a 1-0 lead but Mohamed Salah stayed onside by the narrowest of margins to meet Mohamed Aboutrika's cross at the back post just before the break.

A draw is a meritorious result for the Oly Whites but it probably means elimination at these Olympics. They still have a chance of progressing but when that chance requires beating Brazil, realism needs to kick in.

Brazil beat Belarus 3-1 today to earn their place in the quarter-finals - New Zealand went down to Belarus 1-0 in their opening match.

Neil Emblen's side played well at times this morning (NZT) and created a handful of chances but they also came under considerable pressure and relied on some good goalkeeping from Michael O'Keefe and some last-ditch defending to keep Egypt out.
It meant some good entertainment for an impressive crowd of 50,050, with chances at both ends, but wasn't really the result either side wanted.

Michael McGlinchey had a diving header well saved, Shane Smeltz couldn't quite free himself for a clean strike on goal a few minutes later and Emad Meteab missed a sitter in the 90th minute to seal a win at the death for Egypt.

"Getting a goal in front gave us something to hang on to similar to Belarus the other night,'' Emblen said. "They were always going to create chances but we've dug deep. Michael O'Keefe has made some good saves, there was some last-ditch defending and we kept ourselves in the game until halftime.

"After halftime we sat off them and tried to frustrate them a little bit. We didn't press them at all and instead let their two centre backs have it and I think they did get a bit frustrated.

"They are still good enough to create chances but we were coming into the game a bit more by the time it opened up and those last 20 minutes were a humdinger and it could've gone either way.

"The last match is such a prestigious game for our players to be a part of and we have to go into that believing we have a chance. If we enjoy it, have the game of our lives and Brazil have an off day, then you never know.''

New Zealand 1 (Chris Wood 17) Egypt 1 (Mohamed Salah 39). HT: 1-1.