New Zealand player Noah Billingsley and USA's Cameron Carter-Vickers chase the ball during the FIFA Under-20 World Cup match between New Zealand and USA. Photo / Getty Images.
New Zealand player Noah Billingsley and USA's Cameron Carter-Vickers chase the ball during the FIFA Under-20 World Cup match between New Zealand and USA. Photo / Getty Images.
Darren Bazeley is keeping the faith. The Junior All Whites coach remains positive his team can qualify for the knock-out stages of the Under-20 World Cup, despite last night's 4-0 hammering at the hands of the USA.
There wasn't much to like about the New Zealand effort on Tuesday. Theygave up some extremely poor goals, lacked the spirit they had displayed against Ukraine and didn't produce much in possession.
It was New Zealand's worst defeat in Under-20 World Cup history, going back to the 2007 tournament in Canada and a significant step back from the opening game. And perhaps most disappointing of all - the home side couldn't lift for a vocal 15,000 strong crowd at Albany Stadium.
Now the Junior All Whites face a must win match against Myanmar on Friday to have any hope of progressing to the last sixteen. They can't finish in the top two places in Group A, but four points should be enough to qualify as one of the best third placed teams.
"I'd love to be on more [points], said Bazeley. "But what we have done with that one point is given ourselves a chance until the 90th minute against Myanmar to get the four points and go through.
"We need to address what happened [against USA] and then move forward. If we put that opportunity in front of the players - win on Friday and then we will do what we said we would - the players can move forward."
However, Myanmar won't be a cakewalk. Despite their heavy 6-0 loss to the Ukraine on Tuesday, they have shown enough in periods of both their matches to be a significant threat. They have pace across the field and have shown some neat touches in possession.
In contrast, New Zealand have struggled to keep the ball for significant periods, especially in the opposition half. Too often a movement breaks down with a poor pass, not helped by the lack of options for the player in possession.
"We work very hard off the ball," said Bazeley. "I think players need to work as hard when we have got possession, especially the players off the ball."
Meanwhile, Bazeley was lamenting their costly - and basic - errors on Tuesday night.
"For us to compete at this level we need to go through games [basically] mistake free," said Bazeley On Saturday we didn't make any mistakes defensively and we came out of it with a clean sheet. [On Tuesday] it hasn't been quite as mistake free as it was and we have been punished."
