will Oz opponents playing warm-up matches with NZ

will Oz opponents playing warm-up matches with NZ

like the last World Cup,
Brazil played with NZ before World Cup, as they faced Socceroos in same group

possible warm up matches
All Whites' opponents will play with Socceroos
Socceroos' opponents wil play with All Whites
halu2009-11-20 18:29:37

Not bad thinking there.

That's the idea, the World Cup preparation is about paying teams that eitrher suit a particualr country's style...ir you just want to play tams that may be similar to the opponents you will face at the tournament proper.

It's about World Cup preparation now, which is why the idea of a pre-World Cup Aust v NZ game isn't necessarily the best idea in the World. We're talking World Cup here, not the mickey mouse Rugby World Cup and Cricket World Cup.

Serious business we're talking here.

Exactly, we need to prepare against a team similar to who we are playing against, not play someone preparing for Aus.

That would be like having 6 potential interested parties looking at our direction. It is a good idea to try as many different team styles to get a solid basic playing style incorporated in the All Whites to assess our strengths, weakness and adjust for greater improvements.

We need to see if any couple of players can get that RB position sorted and it may need tweaking the CB positions to aloud it. Don't want to have to relied on Bertos speed when we prefer him in attack. Siggy seems to get better at it and Aaron Scott deserves a couple of full friendlies in that position and seems quicker on the back foot than Siggy who is better at CB. We need to look for a replacement for Lochhead if he gets injuried as well, so a few games for someone else at LB. We have to work on our midfield. Pleased with Barron's efforts against Bahrain.

With our main european players not always available, we can get some of the squad to play a bit more looking to get those combinations working.

Hopefully we get up to a solid 5 friendlies before having 3 pre-tournament games in the 21 days training with our top available players.

Good thought Halu.  Was optimistic about us getting a few friendlies but completely slipped my mind the reasons for that Brazil game.  Wouldn't be at all surprised if one or two of the teams in Australia's group give NZF a ring.

I agree with playing people suit us, but due to the lack of time the team has had together, there has still got to be a lot to get from playing the Socceroos

I want a game against Aus to build profile here for the game. In Wellington of course. 

Possible, but reading below, I'd say a game before the World Cup is low...

http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/football/pims-world-cup-warmup-might-be-a-mild-guus-chase/2009/11/19/1258219925381.html

Pim's World Cup warm-up might be a mild Guus chase

Michael Cockerill
November 20, 2009


While Buckley praised New Zealand's epic victory against Bahrain in Wellington last weekend, he has cast doubts on a match-up against Australia's oldest opponents, saying: ''It was a wonderful achievement by New Zealand, and they should be congratulated. It's potentially a defining moment for the sport in New Zealand, much as our match against Uruguay [2005] was.

''Of course we all know the great rivalry which exists between the two nations, but when you're preparing for a World Cup, you can't romanticise about that. You have to look at what's best for the team.''

While Australia have played New Zealand 62 times since their first meeting in Dunedin in 1922, the two nations have not met since Australia's switch from Oceania to Asia in 2005. Earlier this week, New Zealand Football chairman Frank van Hattum said he would ''love'' to resume the rivalry in a ''meaningful way''.