New Zealand sealed Oceania's nomination for the Beijing Olympic Games with a resounding 8-0 win over the Cook Islands in Fiji yesterday.
The hard work had already been done thanks to wins over main rivals Fiji (2-1) and Solomon Islands (2-0).
The New Zealand Olympic hopefuls, known colloquially
as the 'Oly-Whites', just needed a point from their final match against a Cook Islands side who had lost their four previous matches by an aggregate score of 30-0.
By the time both Steven Old and Jeremy Brockie had scored inside 20 minutes the result was always a formality.
Jason Hayne (twice), Sam Messam, Daniel Ellensohn, Costa Barbarouses, and captain Aaron Scott all made the most of some second-half shooting practice to get themselves on the score sheet in New Zealand's fifth win in nine days.
The Oly-Whites - who will be allowed to add three overage players to their squad for Beijing - still require New Zealand Olympic Committee ratification to take their place in the 16-strong men's draw.
A New Zealand Football representative will meet the NZOC's three-man Olympic selection panel to sell the Olympic merits of the Oly-Whites and Football Ferns, who earned their nomination for the women's draw beating Papua New Guinea 2-0.
New Zealand were thrown a curveball just before kickoff yesterday, receiving confirmation that five players from their starting lineup would miss the opening match of the Olympics if they picked up another yellow card.
But the Oly-Whites adjusted seamlessly to the subsequent lineup change, leading their coach Stu Jacobs to praise the way his players maintained their standards throughout their easiest match of the tournament.
"We were always going to win this match, it was just a case of how many. But you still have to maintain your professionalism and the lads certainly did that today."
- NZPA
