Town keeper Henry Gray was named Man of the Match as New Zealand beat Egypt 2-1 in their second group game at the U20 World Cup in Chile overnight.
The Kiwis, who were beaten 2-1 by the tournament’s hosts in their opening match on Sunday, went behind in the fifth minute but goals on 13 and 16 from Luke Brooke-Smith and Xuan Loke put them ahead and they held on for victory despite being under the cosh for much of the second half.
"I think it was our worst performance — I think we were a lot better the other night against Chile,” head coach Chris Greenacre said. "We didn’t keep the ball as well as I would have liked today.
"To be fair to Egypt, they put us under a lot of pressure for large amounts of time. I think they probably dominated the possession by a long way, but the players showed their togetherness, their character, they dug in.
"It was a tough shift at the end and we were really up against it, but we defended for our lives.”
It was Gray fumbling a cross which led to Chile’s late winner at the weekend and Greenacre was pleased that the Blues keeper was able to redeem himself against the Egyptians.
"Henry has got the Man of the Match and probably rightly so,” he said. "I’m delighted for the guy.”
The head coach, a striker with Mansfield, Stoke and Tranmere among others in his playing days, added: "We’re now more in control of our destiny and it’s in our hands, which is what you want it to be.
"I think if you’re relying on other results, it’s out of your control. We give ourselves a good chance now and we look forward to the Japan game.”
Third-placed New Zealand face the Japanese, who are currently top of the group with maximum points having beaten Chile 2-0 overnight, in the early hours of Saturday.
The top two in the groups plus the four best third-placed sides go through to the round of 16.
Gray, who was born in Mönchengladbach, spent the second half of 2024/25 on loan at Braintree Town and won the National League side’s Young Player of the Season award.
Earlier in the campaign, he trained with the Blues’ first-team squad and signed a new contract at Portman Road.
Gray, who is still to make a senior debut for Town, joined the club in the summer of 2023 from New Zealand Central League side Waterside Karori following a trial at the end of the previous campaign. He was previously with A-League club Wellington Phoenix’s reserves.
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