Hockey: McAleese feels the confidence

New Zealand's Shea McAleese. Photo / Greg Bowker

At first glance, a route to the top four that has to go through the unbeaten Netherlands is a tough ask, but New Zealand exuded a quiet confidence ahead of their must-win clash.

Having lost to Germany on the tournament's opening day, New Zealand effectively had to beat Korea and the Dutch to qualify for the top four. They kept the first part of that bargain yesterday, dismantling Korea 6-1.

The Netherlands will be tougher, but not insurmountable, according to midfielder Shea McAleese.

"We've got one over them. We beat them last time at the Champions Trophy, 3-1 at Monchengladbach, so I'm sure they've got revenge on their minds," McAleese said. "But home crowd, home pitch, everything is in our favour, so I'm sure the boys will be fired up for a big performance."

If it comes down to a tight battle of attrition, the Hawkes Bay product reckons New Zealand have another significant advantage.

"We've got six or seven guys who have played in the Dutch competition so we really understand their game. We're a really fit side, fitter than Holland, so as long as we can hold the ball and take our chances, we'll do really well."

Taking his chances is something McAleese excelled at yesterday, scoring two nifty goals, one the vital strike just after halftime that gave New Zealand a 3-1 buffer they never looked likely to relinquish.

With just 17 goals to his name in 141 caps before the Korea match, McAleese is not noted as a prolific goal scorer.

"It's been a little while between drinks to be honest," he said. "We've been working really hard at not worrying about who scores the goals. The important pass is the assist, so my goals are really credited to Stevie Edwards and Nick Wilson who put me in the position to score those goals.

"That's the good thing about our team, we're willing to give that extra pass to score the goal."

McAleese's double strike gave New Zealand the impetus to pour it on in the second half, scoring four unanswered goals.

"Our game fits against Korea really well. We've had really good success against them for the past three to four years. Even in the London Cup, although we lost the final 3-4, we created 10 or so really good chances.

"We knew if we scored first after halftime, which Shane [McLeod, coach] really emphasised, we could accumulate goals and win really comfortably."

But there is no time to dwell on success in such a quick-fire tournament. At 6pm tonight, the Netherlands, eight-time winners of this trophy, await.