Kiwis relying on coach’s expertise
MUMBAI: New Zealand’s U-17 team is set to take on Brazil and England in two warm up matches leading to the Fifa U-17 World Cup and skipper Max Mata says that the friendlies will be the perfect opportunity for the Kiwis to iron out any shortcomings .
“For us, getting an opportunity to play against Brazil and England is going to be an awesome experience. It will help us tweak the areas that need strengthening. The harsh reality for us is that this is going to be the opposition we will play when it counts. We wanted to go up against a team that would really test us because that is when aevery individual and the team’s character come to the front,” Mata said.
New Zealand will play Brazil on September 28 and England on October 1 at the Mumbai Football Arena in Andheri.
Mata who scored four of New Zealand’s 27 goals in their title winning charge at the 2017 OFC Championships earlier this year, doesn’t except goal-scoring opportunities to present themselves as easily in the World Cup.
“Our goal-scoring abilities are a positive for us. We are planning to continue that, but don’t expect the same outcome in the World Cup. But when we do get our chances, we will finish them,” Mata added.
Danny Hay, the team’s coach was also in charge of the Kiwi’s U-17 side two years ago in Chile and Mata is relying on his experience to carry them forward in India.
“We have full trust in what he says and that is the best thing for us. He has seen this before, was in middle of it and in tough situations. We can trust him 100% and that is exactly what we have done,” Mata said.