Connect with us

New Zealand national team coach Antony Hudson says his team are not afraid of European Champions Portugal as the All Whites attempt to end an encouraging Confederations Cup show on a high.

The New Zealand team have already been eliminated after their loss to Russia and Mexico and their coach is hoping to bag maximum points when they face Cristiano Ronaldo led team on Satuŕday.

“We see this as another game that we want to approach with the mindset of being organised, having the right mentality and we want to get a result.

“We’re not looking up to the opposition, we could be playing whoever. We know Portugal are world class and they pose different problems to Mexico, but we are going to come to this game with the same mentality.

“This tournament is important for us, every game we can constantly review and we don’t always get that luxury.

“We want to keep improving but we also know we are playing against the world’s best teams and, while we will always back ourselves – there is no shred of doubt in our squad, we also need to understand there is a huge gulf in class.

“Every player will give their absolute all. We won’t just try to keep the scoreline respectable, we want to come out and win the game. Not one person is overawed, we are looking forward to the game.

Portugal are expected to rest Ronaldo as they look forward to know whom they will face in the semifinals.For New Zealand they will turn their attention after the match back to 2018 World Cup qualifiers ans wrestle aganist Solomon Islands in for one of five South America slots.

More in