NZ give Azzurri warning New Zealand already lost to Italy 4-3 in a recent friendly and assistant Coach Brian Turner feels that gave them “a lot of confidence.”
The Kiwis have been drawn in World Cup Group F along with the Azzurri, Paraguay and Slovakia.
“We will have to play to our very best to compete against the world champions and we definitely want to go away with good results,” Turner told FIFA.com.
“We have not been to the World Cup in 28 years and now we are here, we have to play against Italy, which is going to be a big challenge.
“Our game against the Italians before the Confederations Cup should give us a lot of confidence, though.
“We played a great game and were leading for most of the match, but they brought on the big boys in the end and beat us 4-3.”
They met on June 10 at the Super Stadium in Pretoria, but two of the three New Zealand goals could be attributed to the howlers of reserve goalkeeper Marco Amelia.
“That said, it was still a great experience for our players and one that should help us next year. Our target is very simple, and that is to gain the respect of people all over the world for our team.”
http://www.football-italia.net/dec5e.html------------------------
QUOTE
“We played a great game and were leading for most of the match, but they brought on the big boys in the end and beat us 4-3.”
Well yeah, doesn't that say something lol? I'm afraid the 'big boys' will be playing against you next year mate, not the reserves you faced.