The All Whites take on Fiji, the only nation to defeat New Zealand in the entire 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign, at Lawson Tama Stadium in the opening match of Group B.
While Herbert may not have had a full-strength squad at his disposal for that 2008 defeat in Fiji – a dead rubber after the All Whites had already booked a place in the intercontinental play-off – the youthful look to his current squad is more due to a new wave of talent pushing their claims.
Herbert says he will need all of them to get through a testing OFC Nations Cup schedule.
“It may be cliched but it’s going to take 23 players to take the next step in this campaign.”
After two training sessions in Honiara, Herbert has been impressed by the hunger in the group, making his job of selecting a team to kick off the tournament difficult.
“There’s good depth, good character and a real desire from everyone to be in that starting 11,” Herbert says. “The team I pick will be based on performance and there will be a quality list of players who don’t start.”
If Herbert’s decision wasn’t hard enough, coming back into contention from the line-ups that drew with El Salvador and beat Honduras are Tony Lochhead, Chris Killen and Rory Fallon, who all missed the USA leg of the tour.
With tough decisions to make in all areas of the pitch, especially in attack where New Zealand now have more options than at any time in his tenure, Herbert says his side for Fiji may well have an unexpected look.
“Some of the performances against El Salvador and Honduras were incredibly encouraging so there may be a few surprises in the starting 11.”
Herbert says Fiji deserve the All Whites’ respect.
“Fiji will be hard to beat and they will be defensively sound. It’s in our best interests to look after the ball and if we can control the game and get good service to the players operating in the front third of the pitch then hopefully we can do something. It will be a tough one for us so we’ll need focus and some big performances.”
Fiji’s main threat will likely come from Roy Krishna, a pacy frontman familiar to New Zealand fans through his goalscoring exploits with Waitakere United in the ASB Premiership, although former YoungHeart Manawatu striker Osea Vakatalesau still cuts an imposing figure and was joint top scorer of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying globally.
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand Football visit www.nzfootball.co.nz

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