logo
Auckland FC's shock elimination leaves coach Steve Corica fuming

Auckland FC's shock elimination leaves coach Steve Corica fuming

RNZ News24-05-2025

Victory for the Victory over Auckland FC in the second leg of the semi-final.
Photo:
Shane Wenzlick / www.photosport.nz
The dream season is over. And the coach is fuming.
But Auckland FC could not stop Melbourne Victory when it mattered most.
Victory's 2-0 win at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday sealed an A-League Grand Final spot with a 2-1 aggregate score across the home and away semi-finals series.
The shock result of the fifth-placed side toppling the Premiers Plate winners ended a barely believable run for an expansion club.
It was a result that Auckland FC coach Steve Corica had questions about.
Auckland took a
one goal advantage
into the second semi-final at home needing a win or a draw to continue making history in their inaugural season.
After a goalless first half that ended with rising tempers, Victory scored first in the 54th minute to level the aggregate score and scored again in the 60th minute to take the lead and put the pressure on the hosts.
Auckland could not respond, despite the support of a crowd of 29,148 fans.
Auckland FC coach Steve Corica.
Photo:
PHOTOSPORT
Corica said he believed a disallowed goal of Auckland's near the 70th minute mark was a turning point for his side. The ball was ruled by VAR to have gone out of the field of play before going into the goal.
"The referees made a bad decision, the linesman has and so has the VAR whoever is in charge up there because that would have obviously helped us get back into the game.
"It wasn't our day we had a few half chances but it just wasn't falling for us we switched off a couple of times and let them get into the lead but for me we weren't given the opportunities to get back into the game because of that decision as well."
Corica said he did not want an apology, like had been proffered for incorrect calls during the season.
"I want the right decision to be made and my opinion is they got it wrong and that could of cost us getting back into the game for one and getting into a final. You're talking about big decision there so you would hope they get it right but I don't think so," he said.
Victorious coach Arthur Diles said he believed things evened out across the season.
"Over the course of a year your luck comes and goes and come the end of the season it normally balances itself out, because there's been many games this year that we should have won and we didn't, we've been unlucky, but in the end you can talk about referees decisions , you can talk about luck bad luck or good luck but in the end of the season it normally pans out and it evens itself out."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Ryan Fox and the All Whites - a collaboration made in Canada
Ryan Fox and the All Whites - a collaboration made in Canada

RNZ News

time3 hours ago

  • RNZ News

Ryan Fox and the All Whites - a collaboration made in Canada

Ryan Fox wins Canadian Open and the All Whites stop by to watch after Canadian Shield game Photo: Collage/Photosport Golfer Ryan Fox was closing in on a second PGA Tour win and the All Whites had just claimed one of their biggest victories in more than a decade - both things happened in Toronto, Canada - so it makes sense that New Zealand sporting stars crossed paths far from home. Eight All Whites, who are also handy with a golf club, were at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley to watch Fox win the Canadian Open in a play off with American Sam Burns. All Whites captain Chris Wood said he "was a lot more nervous watching" Fox win the title than he is playing football. "You can't control anything," Wood said of being a spectator to the big moment. "And seeing a fellow Kiwi doing so well it was exciting to see, he's done fantastically well and having that opportunity to be there and watch that bit of history for him and qualify for the US Open and things like that, it's fantastic. "He was a gentleman and gave us time after after his round, to speak to us and let us in on a little bit of information and how he played and things like that." The All Whites' trip to the golf was fully signed off by coach Darren Bazeley. "I think it was a great opportunity. On a day after a game we go through pretty good process with recoveries, so they spent all morning going through recovery process with the guys and they had an opportunity to go and follow the final round and Ryan being there doing so well I think it was great. "They were very well looked after, which was nice, and got themselves on the TV, which was cool. "I think that's part of our culture, following wherever we are in the world, finding and following Kiwis and connecting. It's a big part of what we try and do is connecting, so it was a good day." Would Fox be in the stands at the All Whites' next Canadian Shield game against Ukraine? "Unfortunately, he had to fly straight out to the US Open," Wood said. "He said he would have liked to but he has a bigger fish to fry this week and hopefully he can do some damage in the US Open this week." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

All Whites secure best win in more than a decade
All Whites secure best win in more than a decade

RNZ News

time4 hours ago

  • RNZ News

All Whites secure best win in more than a decade

The All Whites had their best win in more than a decade when they beat a country ranked 45 places higher than them in the world rankings on Sunday. The one nil victory over the world number 41 Ivory Coast was New Zealand's first win over a team ranked that high since 2010. New Zealand's next challenge is to back up that success against the world number 25 Ukraine tomorrow morning. Sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke to Lisa Owen.

All Whites claim shock win against Ivory Coast 'isn't an upset'
All Whites claim shock win against Ivory Coast 'isn't an upset'

RNZ News

time5 hours ago

  • RNZ News

All Whites claim shock win against Ivory Coast 'isn't an upset'

All White Chris Wood Photo: Andrew Lahodynskyj / The All Whites' biggest win in more than a decade was a year in the making, but the challenge is backing it up. New Zealand defeated world number 41 Ivory Coast 1-0 on Sunday at the Canadian Shield in Toronto. The win against a team they were playing for the first time at senior level, and that is ranked 45 places ahead of them in the FIFA world rankings, did not surprise coach Darren Bazeley or captain Chris Wood - or anyone else in the All Whites environment. "It's a performance that we felt has been coming over the last year," Bazeley said. The All Whites' participation at the four-team Canadian Shield invitational tournament is part of the long build-up to next year's FIFA World Cup to be co-hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico. Wood had limited participation in the game against Ivory Coast as his workload is managed after a season for English Premier League side Nottingham Forest in which he played the most games he has in more than eight years. "The body's feeling the effects of that, I'm not 24 anymore I can't bounce back like I used to," Wood quipped. "Just got to take care of the body because I want to be around for for a long time." Wood saw the victory against Ivory Coast as a benchmark. "It gives us belief that we can compete against these strong teams. I think it's one that has really opened the eyes to everybody to know that we are capable of performing against these type of teams and that's the standard we need to set and we need to get better as well," Wood said. "We cannot fall below the standard we've already set in the previous game we need to strive to be better and have a better performance than we did the other day, which will only make us a better team." Clashes with high ranked opposition is something Wood said the playing group had sought throughout his All Whites career and the current squad were ready for the challenge. "I think that's what the last two years have been about, educating, growing as a team, growing as players, individually, and then bringing the performances along to get to this point," he said. "We know we're going to face these type of oppositions when we come to the world cup and now it's about producing it, putting it together and showing what we're truly about." Ben Old of New Zealand plays the ball Photo: Andrew Lahodynskyj / Assistant coach Tony Readings agreed with Wood that the squad could improve again against Ukraine after the Ivory Coast result. "For us it isn't an upset. For us there's an expectation now in this group that we keep getting positive results against this level of teams. "I think the real focus of this next game is to back up what we've done, but to go to another level, because we know we played well in the last game, but we know we can play better." The All Whites have noted Ukraine are "very organised" in defence and "very fluid" in attack but the New Zealanders want to "dominate more of the ball", than they did against Ivory Coast, according to Readings. "For us it's more about us imposing ourselves on the game, so being able to control the ball a lot more, and even when we don't have it being able to make sure that we're dictating the game as well. "We know it's going to be a tough challenge against them and it's exactly what we need at this time because the more learnings we can get now the better. "Getting learnings and winning the game, that that's our ideal outcome for this one." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store