All the pressure on Russians: Hudson
All Whites coach insists his side won’t just sit back and defend in Confederations Cup opener tomorrow
Russia should be intimidated about their match against New Zealand, rather than vice versa, according to All Whites coach Anthony Hudson.
The two sides meet in the opening game of the Fifa Confederations Cup at 3am tomorrow ( New Zealand time).
The match is expected to be played in front of almost 70,000 people at the new Krestovsky Stadium and the All Whites will be severe outsiders. But Hudson sees things differently. “I’d much rather be in our position than Russia’s,” Hudson told the Weekend Herald.
“We should have no fear going into these games. That’s how it is.”
Despite the absence of key defender Winston Reid, an underwhelming build- up and the expected hostile atmosphere, Hudson feels the All Whites have everything to play for.
“We are looking forward to it, we are not panicking, we are not worried,” Hudson said.
“If you look at Russia, I actually believe that the prospect for them is even more intimidating. They can’t possibly lose to a team like New Zealand.”
Hudson i sn’t underestimating Russia — far from it — but instead pointed out the level of expectation on the Sbornaya.
As hosts, they are expected to progress to the semifinals but any kind of slip against New Zealand could be fatal to their chances, with Portugal and Mexico still to play.
“They are a dangerous animal,” Hudson said. “They’ve had a difficult time with the media and the fans recently and a bit of instability, so you don’t know what kind of team will show up. But we have to believe we are going to face the best version of their team and we’ll be ready for that.”
Russia have had three different coaches in the past two years, as their world ranking has slipped to 64. And, similar to England, they struggle to find their best form in major tournaments. They are in a rebuilding phase — only nine players remain from last year’s European Championships squad — but are still packed with quality.
The occasion will be light years away from the low key match against Belarus last Tuesday, where the All Whites were strangely flat.
So much depends on the performance of the midfield trio, who have to shield the back five and also be good enough to maximise the limited possession they will get.
“We believe we can create chances by playing football and I’ll stand by that,” Hudson said. “We won’t be going in there and saying ‘ Oh shit, we are going to defend for 90 minutes’. We won’t be doing that.”