All Whites captain Tim Brown, who will deputise for the injured Ryan Nelsen, was among the bulk of the squad to arrive from New Zealand and while the Phoenix midfielder admitted to being a “bit jaded” following the travel, he says the Mexican test is already whetting the appetite.
“It’s not easy and we haven’t seen each other for a while but we’re excited about the challenge,” Brown said.
The team will train just twice on Tuesday local time having not played together since writing a new piece of kiwi sporting history on November 14, but Brown says that’s part and parcel of international football.
“The preparation is never how you wanted to be but we’ve had enough experience of that we’ll be okay and we can rip into it.”
Mexico are coming off a 5-0 win over Bolivia with their local players and will welcome their European-based stars for the match against New Zealand. Organisers have already sold 50,000 tickets with a ‘home’ crowd of up to 75,000 ready to welcome Brown and his teammates.
“It’ll be massively tough. A lot of teams around the world would struggle, but we will have to step up and rise to the challenge because with the quality of players they have it could be a very difficult night for us if we are not switched on.”
However sizeable the task, Brown believes the carrot of a place in Ricki Herbert’s 23 man World Cup squad can inspire the best out the current group that includes three uncapped players.
“There’s a big tournament coming up in a few months and everyone wants to be there. Every time you play for New Zealand you’re playing for your jersey and this game is no different.”
New Zealand v Mexico
Rose Bowl
Pasadena, USA
8pm March 3 (Local time)
5pm March 4 (NZT)
Live on Sky Sport 1
Tickets from www.ticketmaster.com
New Zealand (from): Glen MOSS (GK), James BANNATYNE (GK), Tony LOCHHEAD, Andrew BOYENS, Steven OLD, Ben SIGMUND, Tommy SMITH, Andy BARRON, Leo BERTOS, Tim BROWN, Chad COOMBES, Simon ELLIOTT, Jason HAYNE, Michael McGLINCHEY, Shane SMELTZ, Rory FALLON, Chris KILLEN, Chris WOOD
Coach: Ricki HERBERT
Mexico: Luis Ernesto Michel (GK), Jonathan Orozco (GK), Efrain Juarez, Carlos Salcido, Ricardo Osorio, Francisco Javier Rodriguez , Hector Moreno, Rafael Marquez, Gerardo Torrado, Israel Castro, Andres Guardado, Jonathan Dos Santos, Braulio Luna, Aldo De Nigris, Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez, Giovani Dos Santos, Cuauhtemoc Blanco.
Coach: Javier Aguirre
Story and photo courtesy NZF Media.
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