Source: Radio New Zealand
Finland’s Ryan Mahuta and All Whites’ Ben Old. Shane Wenzlick / Photosport.nz
The All Whites need to take off the handbrake and rediscover their heart and courage.
That is the assessment from senior players and the coach after a 2-0 loss to Finland on Friday night in the Fifa Series in Auckland.
So accustomed to being the underdog and playing on foreign soil over the last year, coach Darren Bazeley does not know if it was playing at home or the potential pressure on players to secure their spot in the squad for the upcoming Football World Cup that caused his side to have what he dubbed an “unusual” performance against the world number 75 Finland.
“We didn’t look like ourselves, we weren’t as good in possession, we weren’t as composed or controlled in our build up and out of possession we were off the pace a little bit which allowed them to control the ball.”
Bazeley did not see any signs during a week of practice or during the warm up drills on Eden Park that they were going to have an out of character performance.
“Potentially some of it is mindset.”
However he will need to nail down the cause so there is not a repeat of a first half lacking intensity on Monday against Chile in their final home game before the World Cup. Or on an even bigger stage in a few months’ time when results matter even more.
New Zealand’s Kosta Barbarouses taking a photo with fans after New Zealand vs Finland, FIFA Series Tournament at Eden Park. www.photosport.nz
Bazeley believed the loss was a “really good reminder about how tough” the World Cup will be.
He said they would need to be better for the global tournament.
Marko Stamenic in his second game wearing the captain’s armband was forthright that the team “had the handbrake on” and “weren’t as aggressive” as usual, particularly in the first half in front of 17,603 fans.
“I don’t think tactics matters when you’re not going with full aggression and playing with your heart.
“When push comes to shove and you’re relying on something and that’s pride and that’s heart and that’s what I definitely go off in my club environment but mostly in national team football that’s what you’ve got to use and that’s what I think all of us have.
“We just have moments where we need to show it a bit more.”
Heart and courage are not really coachable qualities, but they are a given for any professional player in Bazeley’s mind.
The playing group are “an honest bunch” that the coach trusts to recognise where they needed to improve.
Ben Old who moved into an attacking role against Finland, after spending his club season as a defender, was disappointed with missing his own opportunities in front of goal as well as the team’s performance
“Just didn’t look like we wanted it enough they looked like they were winning all the duels, winning all the chances, just the simple things that you need to do to win games.
“So we didn’t have the quality [in front of goal] but I also don’t think we had the fight that deserved to win the game.
“For us that’s our biggest value is to work hard and have determination and that is something that is completely within our control, so something we’re going to have to show in the next game and without that it is impossible to win games.”
All White Ryan Thomas believes New Zealand did not adapt quickly enough against Finland. www.photosport.nz
Ryan Thomas did not expect to be playing for the All Whites in this international window, so much so that he will temporarily leave camp to attend his sister’s wedding on Saturday, but he is one of the more experienced players available for the Fifa Series.
Thomas captains his club side PEC Zwolle and now has 24 caps for the All Whites in a career blighted by injury.
The unavailability of regular captain Chris Wood and defenders Michael Boxall and Libby Cacace stripped the side of experience for this series and Thomas felt it also left the side vulnerable to not adapting quick enough to the situations in front of them on the field.
Some less experienced players missed what others would have picked up.
“It’s a good reality check that we need to learn from,” Thomas said.
“These moments that we are taking too long to recognise what we need to do and what we need to change that can hurt us, and that hurt us [on Friday] and we need to make sure we learn from this and going forward against Chile hopefully we can rectify that.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand