Bazeley gets behind his troops
Darren Bazeley would love a massive crowd at Waikato Stadium on Thursday night.
But the New Zealand coach is also wary of the pressure on the hosts as they meet red-hot Portugal in the last 16 stage of the Fifa under-20 World Cup.
‘‘There’s probably more pressure and expectation on them than we thought – because the tournament’s at home,’’ Bazeley said after his side emerged from pool play with a win, draw and loss to make the knockout phase.
‘‘They’re resilient, pretty grounded, hard-working, humble lads – they don’t get over-excited or over-disappointed,’’ he said of his charges.
‘‘But I think a few times through the tournament we’ve looked a little bit nervy; a bit edgy. And they needed to play through that to come out the other side – which I think they’ve managed to do.
‘‘Because it’s a World Cup and it’s at home, that gives us a lot of bonuses – but it also adds a bit of pressure. I think big crowds and big support helps us – it gives us a real big boost, like it did in the Ukraine game and the Myanmar game.
‘‘But if the game’s not going so well, it is tough having a big crowd behind you.’’
That could easily be the case on Thursday – Hamilton fans watched Portugal romp through their group with three wins and a goal difference of nine and they will start as huge favourites to end the hosts’ participation.
‘‘They look like a very good team . . . it’s going to be a big challenge,’’ Bazeley admitted.
He and his players have watched Thursday’s rivals play and will do further homework between now and the 7:30pm kickoff in Hamilton.
‘‘Individually [they’re] very good, technically very good, as a team they’re very comfortable in possession and they look dangerous.’’
But he has a belief his side can compete. ‘‘I’m sure during the game we’re going to have good moments. What we’ve got to do is make sure that we stay safe and don’t make mistakes – that we don’t have to chase the game.
‘‘If we can stay in for long periods and give ourselves a chance to win, like we did against the Ukraine, it’d be great. If we have to chase then it becomes very tough playing against good opposition – like the USA game proved,’’ he said of the 0-0 draw and 4-0 defeat respectively.
Defender Sam Brotherton admitted the side had produced mixed displays.
‘‘A good defensive performance against Ukraine, the USA game didn’t quite go to plan, then I think we showed some of our attacking strengths against Myanmar.
‘‘So if we can put a complete performance together we can compete against Portugal,’’ he said.
Bazeley said what mattered most was the side was in the knockout stage.
‘‘We set out to do one thing – to win games and qualify from our group. We’ve done what we said we could do and now we’ve given ourselves a shot at making real history.
‘‘Big game, but big opportunity and the reward is massive – if we manage to get away from Portugal, the tournament will come alive and we’ll have done something special.’’
So do they rate their chances of a massive upset on Thursday night?
‘‘Yeah, why not?’’ Brotherton grinned.