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NZ hopes to wipe out bad memories
Source: Agencies |
June 15, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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SLOVAKIA and New Zealand, two World Cup outsiders, are keen to show they won't be easy prey when they meet in their Group F opener today.
Slovakia is in its first international tournament as an independent nation since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993. New Zealand, meanwhile, is returning to the World Cup stage for the first time since its debut appearance in 1982.
But New Zealand captain and defender Ryan Nelsen, who plays for Blackburn in the English Premier League, insists his country's football has grown in stature since then. Five others in the squad also play in England, adding experience they hope can lift their team to another level.
"We are not wet behind the ears," Nelsen said. "The guys are confident, we've got strikers who are very good and play in good leagues, the defenders as well, and the same for the midfielders."
Slovakia, too, can point to an impressive record in qualifying, when it upset group favorites Czech Republic and Poland, as evidence of its chances of competing well in South Africa. "We're going to play good football and to fight for a place in the second round," Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss said recently.
Even so, the Slovaks and Kiwis can't match the pedigree of their Group F adversaries. They are up against defending World Cup champion Italy and Paraguay, which is playing at its eighth World Cup.
New Zealand, ranked 78th in the world and viewed as the weakest team in the group, profited from Australia's switch to the Asian Confederation following the 2006 World Cup. The challenge now is to improve on its showing 28 years ago when it lost all three group games.
Slovakia is in its first international tournament as an independent nation since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993. New Zealand, meanwhile, is returning to the World Cup stage for the first time since its debut appearance in 1982.
But New Zealand captain and defender Ryan Nelsen, who plays for Blackburn in the English Premier League, insists his country's football has grown in stature since then. Five others in the squad also play in England, adding experience they hope can lift their team to another level.
"We are not wet behind the ears," Nelsen said. "The guys are confident, we've got strikers who are very good and play in good leagues, the defenders as well, and the same for the midfielders."
Slovakia, too, can point to an impressive record in qualifying, when it upset group favorites Czech Republic and Poland, as evidence of its chances of competing well in South Africa. "We're going to play good football and to fight for a place in the second round," Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss said recently.
Even so, the Slovaks and Kiwis can't match the pedigree of their Group F adversaries. They are up against defending World Cup champion Italy and Paraguay, which is playing at its eighth World Cup.
New Zealand, ranked 78th in the world and viewed as the weakest team in the group, profited from Australia's switch to the Asian Confederation following the 2006 World Cup. The challenge now is to improve on its showing 28 years ago when it lost all three group games.
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