All Whites to make tweaks to lineup

There will be a few changes to the All Whites’ starting lineup as they look to “practise what (they) preach’’ against world No 41 Tunisia.

World No 103 New Zealand will play a North African opponent for the second time in the space of four days, in the playoff for third at the ACUD International Football Cup.

Coach Darren Bazeley would not confirm his XI when he spoke the morning before the match, but said there would be “tweaks’’ to the lineup that started their 1-0 loss to their hosts in Egypt.

“We’ve got some decisions to make. There will be tweaks to the starting lineup, I think that’s fair, with the broad squad we have and the turnaround in between, but there won’t be massive changes, because we’re pretty settled in a few areas.’’

Bazeley has rotated his goalkeepers in each of the last three international windows, which could mean a debut for Wellington Phoenix stopper Alex Paulsen or a return after six matches away for his Perth Glory counterpart Oli Sail.

Tyler Bindon could swap with Dane Ingham at right back, while Alex Rufer, Kosta Barbarouses, Ben Old, Ben Waine and Elijah Just would all be rotation options in midfield and attack.

Heading into their clash with Tunisia, who were winless in their three matches at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, then lost to Croatia in a penalty shootout in their semifinal in Cairo, the focus for the All Whites is familiar – finding ways to take more shots.

“We have to now understand why we have possession,” Bazeley said. “A lot of our possession is around working the ball into somebody that’s got a bit of time and space, and is in a good area to be able to then hit the forward pass.”

Bazeley said there needed to be greater recognition of when it was time to start “making forward runs, rather than continuing that possession higher up the pitch”.

“We’ve talked a lot about your finding the trigger for turning possession into attacking play and actually start to hurt teams. I’ve said to the guys – you need to start rewarding yourselves for all of your good possession.”

The two most settled All Whites starters are left back Liberato Cacace and midfielder Marko Stamenić – the only two to have started all nine of Bazeley’s matches in charge, while also playing almost every available minute.

Stamenić was taking a patient view ahead of the Tunisia match, knowing the All Whites’ “ultimate goal” is to perform at the next World Cup in North America in 2026 and they have a long way to go before then.

“Every game is an opportunity for us to try and practise what we preach and try to win games and dominate them,” he said.

“It will come, we have no doubt about it. With time and with precision and focus in training and every game, I think we’ll get there before it.’’