All Whites head coach Darren Bazeley says his team looks forward to playing their next FIFA World Cup Oceania qualifier games on New Zealand pitches.
After winning their series opener 3-0 against Tahiti in Vanuatu, Bazeley said: “We’ve come, we’ve done the job, we’ve got the points.
“We can go back now and wait for those next games where we know it’ll be slightly different on different pitches.”
New Zealand played their first Group B match in hot and humid conditions at Port Vila’s VFF Freshwater Stadium but in November will meet Vanuatu at Hamilton’s FMG Stadium Waikato, and play Samoa at Auckland’s Go Media Stadium Mt Smart.
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Bazeley said the All Whites knew the Tahiti game would be challenging.
“The conditions and the pitches (were) a bit of a leveller,” he said.
“We got off to that good start and fair play to Tahiti, you know, they they sat very deep and sort of just really killed the game a little bit and tried to kill the game as much as they can as a game plan.
“We had a lot of possession. It was pretty comfortable but we know that we can be better with how we break these teams down.
“But it’s a little bit challenging adapting to this today especially, you know, when you’re playing against a team with a really deep block and makes it a little bit hard but the boy did a good job.”
New Zealand meet Malaysia in their next game, a friendly to be played at Auckland’s North Harbour Stadium on Monday October 14.
Game played on Friday October 11, 2024
New Zealand 3 (Eli Just 2’, Chris Wood 68’, Ben Waine 89’) Tahiti 0
Fixtures
Game to be played on Monday October 14, 2024
International friendly
New Zealand v Malaysia North Harbour Stadium, Albany, 7pm
NovemberGame to be played on Friday November 15, 2024
FIFA World Cup 2026 – OFC Qualifier
New Zealand v Vanuatu FMG Stadium Waikato, Kirikiriroa Hamilton, 7.30pm
Game to be played on Monday November 18, 2024
New Zealand v OFC Qualifier Round One Winner (Samoa) Go Media Stadium, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, 7.30pm
This story was first published on October 12, 2024.
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