Fifa World Cup: Why encouraging England display will boost All Whites’ belief ahead of tournament – Michael Burgess
Alex Rufer of New Zealand (right) shakes hands with Jude Bellingham of England after their World Cup warm-up match in Tampa. Photo / Photosport
By Michael Burgess in Tampa
If the All Whites end up having a successful Fifa World Cup campaign, they’ll look back on this match against England as a turning point.
That was the inescapable conclusion from the performance in Tampa on Sunday (NZT), as the All Whites stood up to an immense challenge. Sure – it was still a defeat – and another disappointing goal to concede, the likes of which will be extremely costly in the tournament proper next week.
But 1-0 against England – especially this England – was meritorious. And falling victim to the guile of Harry Kane, probably the greatest scorer of his time, has happened to much stronger teams over many years. It was something to build on, a foundation that should give confidence for what is to come over the next three weeks.
The All Whites showed hunger, they showed fight and they showed no little skill, especially in an encouraging first half, with several counter-attacks. England were dominant but it wasn’t a constant siege and their clear-cut chances were kept to a minimum. It was just the response needed, after the worrying defeat to Haiti.
Sure, they were rusty and Bazeley rotated his entire team at halftime but losing 4-0 to the second-lowest-ranked team at the tournament was a major concern, whatever the circumstances. It led to a difficult couple of days, building into a clash against the world No 4 side, ranked 81 places higher than New Zealand.
Internally, there had been fears in some quarters when the England match was booked; it was a glamour match-up, but was it the right opponent for the last pre-World Cup hit out? Those worries broadened to the football nation – and even casual fans – after seeing the Haiti output.
What would England do if they got going and how much damage would another heavy defeat do to confidence and belief?
Thankfully, that never came to pass, as New Zealand competed well. They were well organised, purposeful and structured on defence, while throwing a few punches of their own on attack. Sure, there are caveats. It was England’s first hit-out and at times they played within themselves. They weren’t looking to press New Zealand, conserved energy at times in the heat and Thomas Tuchel changed his entire team at halftime.
But these are the Three Lions, a team from another galaxy. While New Zealand have one Premier League player, almost the entire England squad are drawn from that competition, with the other four at Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen and Al-Ahli.
England’s squad are valued about 40 times higher than New Zealand and they had stars like Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon coming on for the second period. For those reasons, in many ways, this match will be more impactful than the 4-1 win over Chile in March.
That was important and exciting but this was more relevant. The All Whites looked overawed in the first 10 minutes on Sunday but then found their feet, realising they can live a bit at this level. They were some nice passages with the ball, especially on the counter, and they found space on both flanks. There was good variation – even if they recycled a little too much at times while the defensive quartet regained their mojo.
The match with Iran will be a much greater test – in an intense cauldron in Los Angeles – but Sunday was a vital adjustment to the pace and precision required. It was also a physical challenge, with the mercury hovering at 33C at kickoff time, along with stifling humidity.
They did well to stretch the game with the ball, as the front three of Matt Garbett, Chris Wood and Elijah Just got in space, while the central midfielders were everywhere. And more crucially, they were compact without it, defending with courage and conviction, able to absorb a lot of pressure.
However, there are still questions to be answered. Playing in the vital No10 role, Sarpreet Singh has yet to show enough over the last two games, especially given his inclusion would likely mean that two of Ben Old, Jesse Randall and Matt Garbett would have to miss out. Garbett has also moved up the rankings after a lively match.
Fullback Liberato Cacace didn’t live up to his own high standards, as he works his way back from an injury-plagued season at Wrexham, but his ability to deliver when it counts is unquestionable. And Max Crocombe may have edged ahead of Alex Paulsen in the goalkeeper race, though Bazeley insisted that no final decision had been made.
But the All Whites will start their final training bloc in San Diego with a greater awareness of the level needed and a better sense of what may be possible, if they can put all the pieces together.
“We were solid,” Garbett observed post-match. “Obviously a shame to concede with the last kick of the first half, but ultimately it’s a massive step up from the other night against Haii. As a team, we did quite well. England are strong and we knew it was going be a test, so leading into the World Cup [we are] quite confident in the sense that we know what we can do, and that what we need to do against Iran is be compact and show that kind of aggressiveness.”
Michael Burgess has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.
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