All Whites told to finish job in style
Rest and recovery is in order for the All Whites as their efforts in Lautoka take their toll.
Coach Anthony Hudson gave the players Sunday afternoon off, having flown back from a hot and humid Fiji one day on from their 2-0 win in football World Cup Qualifying.
‘‘We had initially planned to train today and do some work and video stuff and meetings, but we’ve just decided to pull it back. Yesterday [Saturday] was a tough day and the day before with the two separate flights, it does takes its toll, so today is light, tomorrow will be normal day before session.’’
Few would begrudge them the rest, ahead of Tuesday’s return fixture in Wellington, given the way they worked their socks off to get the win.
A penalty to Chris Wood early in the second half was followed shortly after by Marco Rojas stealing the ball off Fijian goalkeeper Beniamino Mateinaqara on the edge of his box and tapping home into an empty net.
Both came from errors, but the second was symbolic of how New Zealand pressed Fiji throughout.
Having such a strong work ethic in humid conditions meant a few players had pulled up a bit sore, Hudson said.
‘‘No major injuries, but definitely there was some cramps and some knocks. We’ll see how everyone is tonight, but it’s nothing major, we’ve got a healthy squad.’’
Of partial concern may be their inability to create clear-cut chances. Rojas had a goal incorrectly ruled out for offside in the first half, but that was about it, outside of the two goals.
Hudson said he would have liked to see more reward for their dominance of possession, but was happy to get the result which means they only need a draw at Westpac Stadium on Tuesday night to progress to the next stage of qualifying.
Not that a draw would be an acceptable result for Hudson.
‘‘Looking at the game, the first half we weren’t really in any danger, but we were a little bit edgy.
‘‘We came out and had a bit more purpose in the second half and I think it just gives us a little bit of confidence. The second half performance allows us to come into the second game with real confidence to finish the job off.
‘‘The biggest challenge for us, OK we won away from home, it was a professional performance, however, now the challenge for us is to progress. We don’t just sit on our laurels and take comfort with where we’re at. We need to kick on for the second game.’’
With only one training session to work on things, Hudson said it would be a matter of working on small parts of their game.
‘‘We’ve got to play to our strengths. The game yesterday has given me a lot to think about, we’ve got a lot to go over, but in a really good way. Tuesday is all about fine tuning lots of little areas.’’