I think we easily have a squad that can give a team like Australia a decent contest, even if it's pretty undeniable that they are overall superior. But we need to be set up to play correctly, and it probably would help having consistent games against really decent opposition too.
Hay's All Whites couldn't even get close to competing with the second string side Arnold played at Eden Park the other year. I think that was primarily down to him and not the relative quality of the sides.
We still don't know if Bazeley is capable of getting the maximum out of our players. We'll know a lot more after the next two windows. How good would it be to beat a side that wasn't an OFC side or an Asian/African minnow for the first time since Herbert's reign. Baze almost got such a scalp when we were leading 1-0 against Qatar at halftime in 2023...
Hay's All Whites couldn't even get close to competing with the second string side Arnold played at Eden Park the other year. I think that was primarily down to him and not the relative quality of the sides.
We still don't know if Bazeley is capable of getting the maximum out of our players. We'll know a lot more after the next two windows. How good would it be to beat a side that wasn't an OFC side or an Asian/African minnow for the first time since Herbert's reign. Baze almost got such a scalp when we were leading 1-0 against Qatar at halftime in 2023...
I don't rate Qatar. They were poor at their home WC, and are currently only 4th in their AFC WC qualifying pool.
IR Iran ( 19 pts), Uzbekistan ( 16 pts), UAE (10 pts) & Qatar (10 pts)
Somehow the Qataris are FIFA ranked 48th. Ahead of the likes of Saudi (59th). The same Saudi Arabia who bet Argentina in Qatar. But then we know the rankings are flawed.
The 4 draws Baze's AWs have earned above have more merit. Hay's AWs got a 1-0 win over Bahrain in late 2021. Bahrain agruably are at Qatar's level.