Soccer: Herbert hints at surprise for Nations Cup

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert has suggested he has a trick up his sleeve when he names his starting line up for their OFC Nations Cup opener tomorrow. Photo / Getty Images.

All Whites coach Ricki Herbert has suggested he has a trick up his sleeve when he names his starting line up for New Zealand's first World Cup qualifier of the 2014 campaign in Honiara, Solomon Islands tomorrow.

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 playoff - the youthful look to his current squad is much more due to a new wave of talent pushing their claims.

Herbert says he'll need all of them to get through a testing 10 day campaign of up to five matches.

"It may be clichéd 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 campaign difficult.

"There's good depth, good character and a real desire from everyone to be in that starting eleven," Herbert said.

"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 in to contention from the line ups that drew with El Salvador and beat Honduras are Tony Lochhead, Chris Killen and Rory Fallon who 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 has more options than at any time in his tenure, Herbert said his line up 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 eleven for tomorrow."
Herbert said Fiji deserved New Zealand's respect.

"Fiji will be hard to beat and they will be defensively sound. It's in our best interest 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.

"The days are gone now when teams could roll up, walk out and maybe score a couple of goals.

"It'll be a tough one for us tomorrow so we'll need a big focus and some big performances."

Fiji's main threat will likely come from Roy Krishna, a pacy front man familiar to New Zealand fans through his scoring 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 campaign globally.

The match kicks off at 1pm New Zealand time and is streamed in New Zealand on www.oceaniafootball.com. Group B rivals Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea kick off at 4pm (NZT) in the day's other match.

- Herald Online