All Whites vow to go on offensive against Fiji

Draw in Wellington will advance NZ to final Oceania World Cup qualifying stage

Adraw is enough, but there’s no way the All Whites will be sitting back when they meet Fiji at Westpac Stadium tonight. The two nations clash for the second time in four days, after New Zealand’s efficient 2-0 win in Lautoka on Saturday.

That result means they need just one point from tonight’s game to advance to the final stage of Oceania World Cup qualifying — a home-andaway playoff in August/September against the top side from the other Oceania pool, currently Tahiti.

The winner of that tie meets the fifth best South American team (home and away) for a place at Russia 2018.

But any possible thoughts of playing for a draw have been quickly set aside.

“We want to win,” declared defender Andrew Durante.

“We want to win convincingly and really put them under a lot of pressure.

“We won’t be sitting back and just playing for a draw. We want to really take it to them, win this game and set ourselves up nicely for the next window,” he said.

Winger Marco Rojas scored his fifth international goal on Saturday and said there were small improvements the team would like to make.

“We played a bit of the first half at their pace and that’s not what we want to do,” he said.

“We want to play at a higher tempo and try to suffocate them, so we’ll look at that and see if we can put it into practise.”

Coach Anthony Hudson hinted at changes upon the side’s arrival back from Fiji and various combinations were tried in the side’s final training session.

Saturday’s second half substitutes Tommy Smith (back three) and Ryan Thomas (midfield) ran with what looked to be a shadow starting 11, as did fullbacks Tom Doyle and 17 yearold Dane Ingham, who could be in line for an All Whites debut.

Captain Chris Wood was absent but there is no suggestion he is in doubt for the game.

We want to play at a higher tempo and try to suffocate them, so we’ll look at that and see if we can put it into practise. Marco Rojas

Durante will definitely hold his spot after an excellent display in Lautoka and is unperturbed about any changes to the defensive personnel around him.

“Everyone understands the system really well, he said.

“We’ve had a good build-up to these games, the gaffer [Hudson] is really switched on and makes sure everyone knows their roles and expectations within the team, so if there are changes, it’ll be status quo — we’ll be going with the same mindset as we had over there.”

All Whites patron John Key was a guest at the side’s captain’s run and addressed the squad before confidently predicting a 5-0 win for the home side.