New Zealand U-17 men's coach José Figueira has urged his side to be more ruthless as they complete their preparations for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil.

The OFC Champions went down 2-0 to Mexico in an international friendly this morning (NZT) in Argentina in their penultimate game before taking on Angola in their World Cup opener on 27 October.

While frustrated with the result, Figueira said it was a good lesson for his young team as they played well but did not convert their opportunities.

“It was a little bit of a tough one to take actually,” said Figueira.  “The message to the team at the end of the game was we need to be a little bit more ruthless at both ends and in both boxes.

“We are really disappointed that a game we were well in, but not only well in, but controlled for long periods and created four or five golden scoring opportunities that we didn’t take. We have been punished by an unmarked player from a corner and an unmarked player from a cross. Outside of that our keeper has made a couple of good saves. There is a bit of frustration at the end of the game, but this is why we have these games in the lead-up so we can work on these things and be ready for the World Cup.”

Figueira said there were some real positives from the hit-out.  The team played with personality and he felt at no stage in the game were his team under significant pressure.

“These are great lessons to learn now. What we have watched of Angola and what we saw of Mexico ahead of this game it is going to be a very similar game. Mexico were very direct, they tried to get in behind us, and some of the challenges and experiences we faced today are similar to what we expect to face in our opening game of the World Cup.” 

New Zealand will now take on Argentina – who played Canada today - on Sunday morning NZT at the same venue before they move on to Brazil. Figueira said his team will be up for the challenge.

“The word from the AFA [Argentina Football Association] is they have really high hopes for this age group,” he said.   “They think this is another potential golden generation bubbling away for them. The fact that the match is on their home pitch and their headquarters, it is going to be a really big challenge but it is a challenge that we will face when take on Brazil [in the World Cup]. It will be the ideal game to see our players under pressure. If we can repeat how we played today and tidy up some areas, there is no reason why we cannot stand up to that challenge.”

International Friendly
New Zealand U-17 0
Mexico U-17 2

Article added: Thursday 17 October 2019