All Whites to continue with ‘brave’ approach to their games, Bazeley promises

All Whites interim head coach Darren Bazeley says there’ll be changes — “but not wholesale changes” — in the line-up to face Qatar in Tuesday’s friendly international in Austria.

Bazeley said a couple of players were “a little bit sore” after Saturday’s game against Sweden but he expected to have a full squad available for the Qatar game.

Of his travelling squad, only four outfield players — Francis De Vries, Tommy Smith, Alex Rufer and uncapped Finn Surman — did not get game time against Sweden.

‘We definitely want the players to be brave’

Speaking to a media briefing, Bazeley said in the lead-up to the Sweden game, the team had expressed a desire to be brave in the way they approached their games.

“When it comes off, it looks really good, and when there are mistakes it hurts us against a very effective team in that moment,” Bazeley said, referring to the way the side conceded goals to Sweden in the 4-1 loss.

“There will be mistakes made but hopefully they don’t always end up in the back of our net.

“We definitely want the players to be brave but learn from those moments where we’re under pressure in certain areas of the pitch then maybe it’s not the time to play certain passes.”

Bazeley said the team expected Qatar to be quite different in approach to Sweden but the All Whites would look to be consistent in the way they played the game, and continue to be brave.

Cacace: ‘We want to create’

New Zealand left back Liberato Cacace said until the All Whites conceded three goals just before half-time, the team had performed well.

“If you look before that, we were trying to be brave.

“That’s what we want to be. We want to try things and be attacking and create things in certain situations.”

Qatar are ranked #61 in the world, while New Zealand’s All Whites have a ranking of #100.

Watch the briefing

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Fixture

Game to be played on Tuesday June 20, 2023

Qatar v All Whites
Sonnensee Stadium, Ritzing, 4am (NZT)

READ MORE: Qatar switch venue for All Whites match to 5,000-capacity stadium >>>>

How to watch

The game will be broadcast live on Sky Sport 1 in New Zealand. The broadcast starts at 3.50am.

The match will be replayed in full on Sky Sport 1 at 9.30am, and on Sky Sport 2 at 8.30pm.

Squads

Where the All Whites will play Qatar

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