NZ belatedly seek to make a point

Avoiding another pointless exercise at a major soccer tournament is now New Zealand's only tangible goal at the Confederations Cup after hosts South Africa cantered to a 2-0 triumph in Rustenburg today.

Bafana Bafana's comfortable victory ended New Zealand's faint hopes of progressing to the semifinals.

Worse, the final score might have come close to the five-goal margin Spain strolled to on Monday had South Africa's finishing been more precise.

Goalkeeper Glen Moss also did an admirable job limiting the damage -- though he was powerless to prevent striker Bernard Parker netting in the 21st and 52nd minutes via crosses from Tsepo Masilela.

New Zealand's defensive frailties were routinely exposed, though an efficient offside trap at least saved the score doubling after South Africa had two potential goals flagged away.

Of the seven goals New Zealand has conceded in group A, six have originated down the right flank where converted central midfielder David Mulligan has been targeted.

Iraq, who lost 1-0 to Spain in today's other match, will be awake to that deficiency when they seek to keep their semifinal chances alive when playing the All Whites in Johannesburg on Sunday (6.30am, NZT).

New Zealand's mission is to at least salvage a draw and earn their first point at a Fifa tournament, following barren excursions to the 1982 World Cup and previous Confederations Cups campaigns in Mexico (1999) and France (2003).

A personnel overhaul seems imminent after coach Ricki Herbert kept faith with the line-up that held world champions Italy to a 3-4 defeat in their final pre-tournament warm-up match.

But Spain and South Africa experienced little difficulty breaking the All Whites down defensively, while the New Zealand attack has been impotent.

Underlining South Africa's utter dominance, they peppered Moss with 22 shots on goal; the All Whites managed only five, the best a scuffed attempt by captain Tim Brown.

Herbert admitted the strike force of Chris Killen and Shane Smeltz was ineffective, though the quality of service they received was variable given South Africa dominated the midfield through Everton's Steven Pienaar.

Herbert was critical of the his strikers' ball retention, though he spread the blame after witnessing a performance that suggested New Zealand would struggle to return to South Africa for next year's World Cup.

"Too many players didn't back up and we're not a side that can can play with half (a team)," Herbert said.

Moss and defender Ivan Vicelich, who returned from retirement after captain Ryan Nelsen was ruled out with injury, escaped censure.

However, Moss is likely to be replaced by Mark Paston against Iraq as the first choice custodian is unavailable for New Zealand's World Cup qualifying matches against either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia in October-November.

Moss was handed a four-match ban after swearing at a referee during the All Whites' match against Fiji in February last year, ruling him out of the two-leg series to determine the fifth and final Asian qualifier.

Herbert was desperate to have Blackburn defender Nelsen, who suffered a knee injury on the final weekend of English Premier League season, available for those games after missing his presence in South Africa.

"Losing him was a massive blow for us, it'll be great to have his experience back."

In the shorter term Ben Sigmund might finally mark his comeback from hip surgery to shore up the defensive formation.

Young forward Chris Wood and midfielder Chris James may also improve on their late-game cameo roles.

Iraq, meanwhile, loom as another tough opponent. They drew 0-0 with South Africa and conceded only one goal against Spain in today's other group A match.

"We're still chasing that elusive point, that will be a priority," said Herbert.