Steve Cain's Young All Whites have the chance to kick-off a great month for the code when they play group D leaders Turkey at the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria tomorrow.
While the task in Calabar is massive, Gordon Murie and his team have some of the odds stacked
in their favour. With yesterday's 4-1 win over Costa Rica Turkey cemented their place in the last 16 and cannot be headed as group winners. With their passage to post-section assured, the Turks are likely to seize the opportunity to rest some players, especially given the short turnaround.
Three of their players are ruled out after receiving yellow cards. Another two players are on one card and probably will not be risked. Only midfielder Zane Sole is out of the New Zealand team.
The Young All Whites go into the match in second place - a point ahead of Costa Rica and Burkina Faso who play at the same time in Enugu. A New Zealand win would guarantee them a place in the last 16 as group runner-up. Should they draw with Turkey and if the other game also ended in a draw they would still finish second. If they lose and the other game produces a result it is unlikely New Zealand would progress as one of the four best third-placed teams.
In other groups Argentina, Switzerland, Spain and Italy are already assured of winning through. Defending champions Nigeria are also well-placed to qualify. Group C is the tightest with Iran and Colombia on four points and the Netherlands on three. Iran play the Dutch and Colombia meet Gambia in the final round. In another key clash, the US play United Arab Emirates to find the team to join Spain in progressing through from group E.
