Chris Wood’s first senior international strike was the highlight of the All Whites’ 1-1 friendly draw with Honduras but another significant moment took place earlier when Ivan Vicelich and Ali Riley were presented with their OFC Player of the Year trophies.
The Kiwi pair were named as winners prior to the OFC Congress in Johannesburg, South Africa, in June but have had to wait for their achievements to be formally recognised.
Getting the star duo together is tricky – Vicelich is playing professionally in China while Riley also has a full-time football career, with USA Women’s Professional Soccer League champions FC Gold Pride.
But Riley was in town this month to help her Football Ferns side take out the OFC Women’s Nations Cup title – and qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2010 in the process – while Vicelich returned to play for the All Whites in their friendlies against Honduras on Saturday and Paraguay tomorrow night.
Both players were joined on the pitch just before kick-off against Honduras by OFC deputy general secretary Greg Larsen, who presented them with their hard-earned trophies for men’s and women’s player of the year respectively.
Receiving the prestigious award marks a remarkable turnaround for Vicelich. The 33-year-old put a halt to his international career mid-way through 2008, only to step in for an injured Ryan Nelsen at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009.
He went on to play in the two-leg World Cup qualifier against Bahrain and then enjoyed a new lease of life at the tournament in South Africa as a midfielder.
Although he is now on a short-term contract in China, he came home to New Zealand two years ago after an eight-year professional stint in Holland and will return to play for Auckland City in the upcoming O-League and ASB Premiership campaigns.
“Coming back to New Zealand turned out to be the greatest move I’ve made in my career,” he says. “It’s great to be back at Kiwitea Street and doing well on the Oceania front. And to qualify for the World Cup is one of the greatest moments in New Zealand sport.”
He was humbled to accept the OFC Player of the Year trophy.
“It certainly has a lot of legends on it so this is a great honour for me,” he says.
In contrast, American born Ali Riley is just at the beginning of what looks to be a promising career.
The 22-year-old full back has been an integral part of the New Zealand women’s team since her debut in 2007 and helped the Football Ferns to a credible fourth-place finish at the 2009 Cyprus Cup.
Riley, who has a Kiwi father and Chinese-American mother from Southern California, has also had an outstanding season in the States, being named WPS Rookie of the Year as her Pride side took out the title.
“I have to thank coaches John Herdman and Tony Readings and the management staff but also of course my Football Ferns team mates, who are just as deserving of this award,” she says. “Hopefully I can help pave the way for more girls from Oceania to achieve their goals in football.”