“I’m sure it will be a very hard game – all the teams at the World Cup are good – that’s why they’re here,” Bazeley says.
“But, we have been preparing for 18 months for this fixture and have done our best to be as prepared as possible.”
The young Charruas had no trouble finding the back of the net during the South American U-17 Championship in Argentina but left it late to book their place in the six-team final phase.
Beaten by Brazil and held to draws by Argentina and Venezuela, Fabian Coito’s side only qualified for the World Cup on the final day. Despite this, they still found themselves with 20 goals from nine games – more than any of the five other teams that contested the final phase of the tournament – a tally fronted by striker Franco Acosta.
Acosta was the leading marksmen during that competition, scoring eight times, a haul that suggests he will be a player of focus for the Kiwi back-line at UAE 2013. His goal-scoring prowess was particularly evident when he scored twice in the final and decisive match against Peru, securing a sixth overall appearance in the finals for his side.
“We were confident about qualifying,” the young Charruas striker says. “We stuck together and we knew that we had to dig deep to reach the World Cup. We don’t give up easily and we fight right till the final whistle.”
Quarter-finalists in Italy 1991 and Nigeria 2009, the side’s best performance was finishing runners-up to the hosts Mexico in 2011. With Coito once again at the helm, this year the Uruguayans are aiming to go one better and Acosta is happy to be leading the charge.
“I worked very hard to be the leading goal scorer, chasing down every ball as if it where the last and drawing on the support of my team-mates, which gave me confidence,” he says.
“We’ve got big expectations. We’ve got a lot of new players and we’re very confident. We know we can go far.
“We chat amongst ourselves a lot and like every kid does, we’re dreaming of doing something big. We’re very close, we’re excited and we know we’ve got the team to improve on 2011. We can be the champions.”
Having modelled his game on that of his hero and compatriot Edinson Cavani, Acosta is aiming for nothing less than individual and collective glory in the UAE, where he hopes to lift the trophy and walk away with the Golden Boot.
“I’m a centre-forward first and foremost, but I can play out wide too,” he says of his playing style. “I like attacking at pace and on the counter, and my strength is my ability to read the game and be in the right place at the right time. I’m an opportunist.
“My aim at this World Cup is to go and do what I did in the South American Championships,” he says of his personal goals. “There are a lot of really good players in osme of the other teams and they’re well known too. But I know I’ve got a lot of strengths as well and that if I score as many goals as I did in Argentina, I’ll be the top scorer at the World Cup. That’s my dream.”
With his target set, it is now up to a New Zealand defensive line-up that includes Sydney United 58 FC defender Spiros Agathos, Island Bay duo Riley Kelliher and Cory Brown as well as on-form goalkeeper Zac Speedy to deny the Uruguay striker that glory.
The buzz surrounding Acosta could be intimidating to any side, but Bazeley says his boys are ready and waiting to shut the striker down.
“This will be a big test for our players as we have heard much about him,” he says.
“This is a great opportunity to see how they can cope with a reputedly world-class striker.”
The Young All Whites will face Uruguay in their opening Group B match at the FIFA U-17 World Cup UAE 2013 on 17 October. The match is being played at Ras Al-Khaimah with kick-off at 17h00 (local time).
Ends
MATCH DETAILS
FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP UAE 2013
Group B
Uruguay v New Zealand
Ras Al Khaimah
Emirates Stadium
Kick-off: 17h00 (local)
New Zealand (from): 1– Zac SPEEDY (GK), 2– Riley KELLIHER, 3–Cory BROWN, 4–Nick FORRESTER, 5–Adam MITCHELL, 6–Alex PALEZEVIC, 7–Alex RUFER, 8–Michael DEN HEIJER, 9–Elijah NEBLETT, 10–Matthew RIDENTON, 11–Monty PATTERSON, 12–Oliver SAIL (GK), 13–Spiros AGATHOS, 14–Stuart HOLTHUSEN, 15–Andre DE JONG, 16–Tamupiwa DIMAIRO, 17–Nick SUGDEN, 18–Andrew BLAKE, 19–Judd BAKER, 20–Clayton LEWIS, 21–Sam COPP (GK)
Uruguay (from): 1- Thiago CARDOZO (GK), 2 – Joel BREGONIS, 3 – Fabrizio BUSCHIAZZO, 4 – Darwin AVILA, 5 – Facundo OSPITALECHE, 6 – Aldo MARTILOTTA, 7 -Gonzalo LATORRE, 8 – Franco PIZZICHILLO, 9 – Luis D ALBENAS, 10 – Alan MENDEZ, 11 – Franco ACOSTA, 12 – Facundo SILVA (GK), 13 – Jhon PINTOS, 14 – Jose ETCHEVERRY, 15 – Gaston FABER, 16 – Elias GONZALEZ, 17 – Leandro OTORMIN, 18 – Marcio BENITEZ, 19 – Emmanuel GONZALEZ, 20 – Mathias SUAREZ, 21- Kevin LARREA