Football: Junior All Whites ready for must-win game

New Zealand midfielder Matt Ridenton is on the books of the Phoenix. Photo / Getty

The wind, the rain and the history.

Wellington's weather has been at its wintry best during the past week, which should play in to the hands of the Junior All Whites who will be more adept to the chilly conditions when they meet Myanmar in their pivotal Group A clash tomorrow at the Fifa Under-20 World Cup.

Myanmar's squad all play domestically and the temperature in the country fluctuates between 22 and 27 degrees during the year.

Having the weather on your side certainly won't win you a game but it could be a useful leg up as New Zealand search for their first win at an Under-20 World Cup. Their previous 11 matches, including the ongoing event, have yielded eight losses and three draws.

Victory over Myanmar, who have opened the tournament with defeats to the US and Ukraine, could push the Junior All Whites through to the round of 16 given four third-placed teams escape pool play, alongside the top two sides from each group.

New Zealand began with a 0-all draw with Ukraine in Albany on Saturday before copping a 4-0 hammering from the US at the same venue on Tuesday.

"We are probably more used to it than, potentially, they would be and hopefully Wellington will turn it on for us with a nice cold one," New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley said of the weather.

Then of course, the history of Wellington Regional Stadium is well documented in New Zealand football folklore.

It was the site of Rory Fallon's famous header in 2009 that sent the All Whites to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as they beat Bahrain 1-0.

The venue also hosted the home leg of New Zealand's last tilt at World Cup qualification where, despite a 4-2 loss to Mexico in late 2013 as they succumbed 9-3 on aggregate, a crowd of 35,206 filled the stands with white noise.

Bazeley said his squad had spoken of the importance that Wellington holds for football in this country.

"I think since the draw, when it came out that this was the third game, everyone goes back to Bahrain and the white out and the great atmosphere that was there for that game. Auckland have recreated it a little in the first two games for us, which was awesome and now this is the game.

"There is history here, it's a great footballing place with the Phoenix and everything. So this is the one we need to win here with the crowd behind us."

A handful of players in the squad are from Wellington, while Matthew Ridenton, Alex Rufer, Oliver Sail, Andrew Blake and Joel Stevens are on the books at the Phoenix.

To beat Myanmar, the Junior All Whites will need to break their goal-scoring drought at the tournament.

"We really are putting a lot of focus in to this game and hopefully we can go out there and be positive and get the win," Ridenton said.