All Whites: 'We are in a good space' - Herbert

Ryan Nelsen's football boots with his son Maxwell and unborn baby Monica jnr (his wife's name) stitched onto the boots, after the New Zealand team's training session at Sinaba Stadium in Johannesburg. Photo / Brett Phibbs

This All Whites side likes creating history and they have an appetite for more against the world champions.

New Zealand face Italy in Nelspruit on Monday morning (NZ time) and there is real belief they can actually get something out of the match against the defending world champions. They shouldn't, in theory, but World Cups aren't played in theory.

The All Whites need look no further than what happened to Spain, France and Germany to draw inspiration.

"We have nothing to lose," coach Ricki Herbert said. "No one will expect us to beat Italy, no one expected us to draw against Slovakia. We are in a good space, really positive and I think we will go out and play well again."

There's every confidence they can do that. They have performed well against higher-ranked opposition throughout their World Cup build-up and in the dramatic 1-1 draw with Slovakia.

The team trained behind closed doors on Friday (SA time), where they worked on their shape and set-pieces. There were no reported injuries, meaning the same side which started against Slovakia will also start against Italy.

"It's hard to go past a side that's created more history," Herbert said. "It's a different type of proposition, a different type of team to play against, but I don't think it will be far away."

Historically, Herbert tends to stick with a successful formula. With Brown not yet fully fit, and Herbert happy with what he saw in Rustenburg, there's little need for change.

Man for man, they will be inferior in every position to the Italians. They have players from those well-known clubs like No Club Affiliation like Simon Elliott, but there's a resilience about the All Whites which will make them tricky opponents.

"It's a special group and I'm not sure if you went around the whole team that anyone would be able to put their finger on exactly why," Elliott said. "But everyone realises it's there and that's the main thing. We don't try to figure it all out.

"It's a very big game for us, especially as we got a point out of the first match. But it's not a big game in the context of what we have already done and what we want to do in the game after. We are still in the hunt and have everything to play for.

"Italy are a very good side. They are defending world champions. We probably haven't seen the best of them yet. They tend to take their time in the group stages and kick on from there. We are expecting a tough game from a bunch of top-level professionals."

The All Whites will take a one-hour flight to Nelspruit on Saturday morning (SA time) - the same city they played Chile in a World Cup warm-up 10 days ago - before training on the stadium there.