The Southland Times

Bazeley backs his crew to give Portugal shock

- IAN ANDERSON FOOTBALL Fairfax NZ

Darren Bazeley would love a massive crowd at Waikato Stadium on Thursday night.

But the Junior All Whites coach is also wary of the pressure on the hosts as they meet red-hot Portugal in the last-16 stage of the 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 overexcite­d or over-disappoint­ed.

‘‘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. 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’ run.

‘‘They look like a very good team. It’s going to be a big challenge,’’ Bazeley admitted.

He and his players have watched their rivals play and will do further homework before 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. They’ve scored a lot of goals and have got a lot of threats.’’ But Bazeley 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,’’ he said.

‘‘So if we can put a complete performanc­e together, we can compete against Portugal.’’

Bazeley said what mattered most was that the side were 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 – making something really special happen.

‘‘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.

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