The All Whites have pulled off an incredible 4-1 victory against Chile to earn their first win over a South American nation in their history.
A red card for the visitors midway through the first half helped the All Whites score four goals in their last home match before the FIFA World Cup at Eden Park in Auckland.
The home side were looking to bounce back from their 2-0 loss to Finland last Friday, with All Whites head coach Darren Bazeley making four changes to his starting 11.
Kosta Barbarouses was the standout star of the changes, as he secured a goal and an assist on his return to the starting side.
The All Whites were denied an early goal after a competitive start, where defender Tyler Bindon headed home from a free kick delivery in the 10th minute, but it was called back for offside.
However, the flash point in the match came in the 27th minute with Dario Osorio grabbing the shirt of Kosta Barbarouses, which led to Australian referee Jack Morgan sending the Chilean back to the changing rooms for his second yellow card offence.
This gave the All Whites momentum, and they capitalised soon after with Barbarouses lashing home a volley from Tim Payne’s corner delivery to put the All Whites 1-0 up in the 32nd minute.
The All Whites doubled their lead before the half-time break following a corner as the ball fell to Joe Bell on the edge of the box, who lifted it back in for Eli Just, who timed his run perfectly to slide in and direct it into the bottom left corner.
After a lengthy VAR delay, Just’s effort stood, with a Chilean defender on the other side of the pitch narrowly keeping the Kiwi forward onside.
The second half continued in a similar fashion to the first, with the All Whites applying pressure to the Chilean defence.
The home side found the back of the net for a third time after some patient build-up, with Randall driving inside on the left. He found Bell, who then clipped it to the far post for Barbarouses to direct it back to the far post, where Randall tapped it home for a well-deserved goal.
Randall was involved again as he lifted a corner in from the left, which was punched away to the feet of substitute Ben Waine, whose first shot got blocked, but his second effort, squeezed past the near post which gave the All Whites a dream 4-0 lead.
Chile managed to spoil the All Whites’ clean sheet with a counter-attack goal at the end of the match, scored by Gonzalo Tapia, to the delight of the large contingent of Chilean supporters in Auckland.
All Whites 4 (Barbarouses 32’, Just 40’, Randall 60’, Waine 71’) Chile 1 (Tapia 83’) HT 2-0
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