By TERRY MADDAFORD
National soccer coach Ken Dugdale will be happy if tomorrow night's Oceania under-20 qualifier in Coffs Harbour is a "dogfight."
The onus is on the Australians to make the play in the second leg after New Zealand's 2-1 victory at North Harbour Stadium.
Any draw will be enough to take the New Zealanders through to the world championships in Argentina. A 2-3 loss would also be enough - on the away goal rule - but a 0-1 loss would not.
A 1-2 loss for New Zealand would take the game to golden-goal extra time and, then, if needed, penalties.
"We don't really want a free-flowing game which might open things up," said Dugdale. "The tighter it is, the better for us. They have to come out and try and beat us, which could be to our advantage."
Dugdale and team coach Kenny Cresswell will delay a final decision on the lineup until tomorrow. Barnsley-based midfielder David Mulligan, limped out of the first leg with an ankle injury, but if he is fit, the starting lineup will be the same as at North Harbour.
The formation will be different. Dugdale said the team would go in with a 3-5-2 formation rather than the 4-4-2 they started with on Wednesday night before switching at halftime.
"The players feel comfortable with that and it worked pretty well," said Dugdale. "It will mean David Rayner will push forward into the midfield."
That will leave Andy Levick, who had a strong first-up outing, Terry Thou and Darren Young to form the rearguard in front of in-form goalkeeper Adam Highfield.
Strikers Shane Smeltz and captain Chris Killen lost little in comparison with their Australian rivals and will go into the game oozing confidence against a team which rarely hit the form expected from such a talented side.
Dugdale said the talk around Coffs Harbour was one of surprise and disappointment at the result of the first game.
Given that result, and with a trip to the finals just 90 minutes away, Dugdale said his team were confident of playing as well as they had in the second half on Wednesday night. Any feeling of inferiority has been dispelled.
It is another chance to pitch a New Zealand team on to the international stage. It will not be easy but, as Dugdale and his team realise, the pressure this time is firmly on the Australians.
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