Kosta Barbarouses scored in the 64th minute to lift New Zealand to a 2-2 draw with El Salvador in a friendly on Wednesday.
Rafael Burgos had twice put El Salvador ahead. His opener came in the 13th minute when he lobbed the goalkeeper from outside the penalty area.
Defender Ian Hogg equalized for the All Whites in the 28th minute, playing a one-two before driving a shot past the goalkeeper.
Burgos added a second in the 56th with a shot that went off New Zealand defender Michael Boxall’s knee and inside the far post.
Russia-based Barbarouses pounced on a rebound off Shane Smeltz’s saved shot and floated a shot into the right of the net.
New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert was pleased with what he saw from his team.
“We got a number of senior players that aren’t here,” Hebert said. “Right now it’s just about building that depth and building that quality. We had more shots on goal tonight and came back twice against a quality team.”
El Salvador coach Ruben Israel said his team is also incorporating new faces and struggled to break down New Zealand’s defense.
“New Zealand defended the whole field with all 11 players, and did not give us space to create more plays,” he said.
Israel gave credit to Nelson Wilfredo Bonilla Sanchez, who was playing with the national team for the first time, for helping to create opportunities for Burgos.
El Salvador face Moldova tomorrow in Dallas and start the semi-final round of World Cup qualifying on June 8 against Costa Rica in a CONCACAF Group B match in San Jose, Costa Rica.
New Zealand take on Honduras in another friendly tomorrow in Dallas and face Fiji on June 2 in an Oceania Group B match in the Solomon Islands.
Kylian Mbappe struck from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat a dogged CA Osasuna 1-0 on Tuesday to make a winning start in Spanish La Liga under new coach Xabi Alonso. The France striker, last season’s European Golden Shoe winner, scored early in the second half, after he was fouled in the area by Osasuna defender Juan Cruz. It was enough to seal the points in Alonso’s first game in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Madrid now unbeaten in their opening fixture of a league campaign since 2008. “You can see that Kylian wants to do even more
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the