All Whites have nowhere to hide
ANDREW Durante and his All Whites team-mates have nowhere to hide, and that is just the way he likes it.
Captain of New Zealand’s lone professional football team, the Wellington Phoenix, Durante has a good idea of what a professional environment should look like after 17 years as a fulltime footballer.
The 34-year-old defender knows better than most that what you produce on the field is heavily influenced by everything you do off it.
It is a major reason he is loving being back in the All Whites, as they enter the second phase of a year expected to end with a shot at qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
Durante, who stepped away from the national team in 2014 before returning to Anthony Hudson’s side for their US tour in October last year, said there was a ‘‘huge difference’’ in the level of professionalism between his 2013 debut and today.
‘‘There seems to be a good harmony between what the coaching staff require and what New Zealand Football are willing to dish out, we are all on the same page.
‘‘The technology for the players is first class . . . it’s very advanced and as players we love it. You’re accountable all the time, standards are very high and if you aren’t performing in training there is nowhere to hide.
‘‘It’s created a really positive environment and we all know where we stand.’’
The flow-on effect is where it counts most.
Durante says every player enters a match with a clear understanding of their role, as well as the responsibilities of their teammates.
The continued improvement in that regard, although it was not as apparent as they may have liked on the scoreboard, was evident during last month’s World Cup qualifiers against Fiji.
It was no coincidence a pair of 2-0 wins in Lautoka and Wellington, sending the All Whites to the two-legged Oceania final in late August and early September, were most widely described as ‘‘professional’’ in nature.
Raising the bar with each tour has been a primary focus for Hudson during his almost three- year tenure. From travel logistics and organisation, to the formation of sports science and analysis departments and the increasing use of videos to keep players up to date, he has constantly chipped away.
All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen and assistant Wayne Smith have even offered valuable ideas and advice.
Hudson described the Fiji tour, which extended a record he said the team was very proud of, as the best they had experienced ‘‘on every level’’.
But with the Confederations Cup just around the corner, he GETTY IMAGES indicated he and his now sevenstrong staff remained determined to make up more ground before the tournament in Russia.
‘‘We have 48 days till we go away,’’ he told Sunday News this week.
‘‘I said to the staff yesterday that we have got a choice, we can do as much or as little as we want but ultimately we will get out what we put in.
‘‘We can’t be stood on the touchline in June going ‘we got caught out there’, wishing we’d done more work in that area . . . everyone is really focused on these next five games.’’