Football experts and the public agree – the All Whites can come out of tonight’s match against Slovakia with a decent result.
John Adshead, who coached the All Whites in their only other World Cup appearance in 1982, was reluctant to predict how the game would pan out but said the team had never played as consistently as it has of late.
“We’ve never before played consistently back to back against teams that are in the top 25 in the world, but we have done that now and we haven’t been totally outplayed or embarrassed,” said Adshead.
He said if the All Whites stood a chance, their ball retention has got to improve and they must not give away free kicks, “because if you give any free kicks away to teams at this level, you will be punished”.
“We’re probably going into this game with a realistic chance,” said Adshead. “Australia usually overshadows New Zealand, but maybe it’s New Zealand’s time to overshadow Australia in this tournament.’ “I hope and pray we stay very close and I’d love to see us score at least one goal. If we come away with any result, it shows a big step up from 82.”
Steve Sumner, who captained the All Whites at the 1982 World Cup, has just been in South Africa and says the atmosphere is “magical”. “I am very hopeful that our guys get the start that will make the rest of the world take notice and that they reach their own expectations,” said Mr Sumner.
“A lot of time and money have been spent on this campaign and it’s now time for our guys to repay all the faith shown with a performance that makes all of New Zealand proud.” Allan Jones, another former All Whites coach, is picking tonight’s game will end in a one-all draw. “It very much depends on who we select but I honestly believe we can get a result,” he said.
“I think we can get a point. It is crucial not to lose the first game.” Former All White and nzherald.co.nz columnist Harry Ngata also thinks the game will be a close one. “We will have to be on our best form and produce our A game. If we put them under pressure, we could get some sort of result.”
But he also said it was important to be realistic. “The guy on the street will think ‘we beat Serbia, so we can beat Slovakia’, but in sport it doesn’t always happen like that.”
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