New Zealand’s Confederations Cup campaign may have started off on the wrong foot, but there were still plenty of positives for the All Whites to take heading into their clash with Portugal this coming Saturday. Even though they lost 2-1 to Mexico on Wednesday, the Kiwis will take comfort in the fact that it wasn’t a one-sided contest and that they gave their highly-favored opponents fits the entire match.
The All Whites even took the lead against Mexico in that contest with Chris Wood scoring the opener three minutes before half-time. Mexico’s firepower was simply too much to overcome, though, as New Zealand remained winless in this year’s competition. That performance, though, will give New Zealand all the confidence they need heading to their showdown with Portugal.
For them to grab a positive result against the reigning European champions, the All Whites need to improve on their ball possession. New Zealand only had 35 percent of the possession in their match against Mexico. That clearly had an effect on their attacks as the Kiwis were only able to create 10 shot attempts against Mexico with four of those going on target. However, That’ll be easier said than done against a Portugal side that’s teeming with attacking talent.
The good news for New Zealand is that Wood is back to his scoring ways once again. He was the top scorer in England’s second-tier championship last season, and has bagged 20 goals in 51 appearances for his country. Wood’s goal against Mexico ended New Zealand’s gargantuan 555-minute Confederations Cup scoring drought.
Portugal will head to their crunch clash with New Zealand with momentum on their side after recording a nerve-wracking 1-0 victory over Russia on Wednesday. It was a huge bounce-back win for Portugal, who climbed into first place in the Group A table with four points to their name.
The European champs’ victory wouldn’t be possible without the heroics of Cristiano Ronaldo. He needed just eight minutes to record his 74th international goal for Portugal, connecting on a header from Raphael Guerreiro’s teasing cross. Ronaldo has now found the back of the net 15 times in his last nine appearances for club and country, and he’s well-rested heading into the match against a New Zealand side that’s the lowest-ranked team in this competition.
A draw in this contest should be enough for Portugal to see them through to the knock-out phase. For Portugal to grab at least that result against New Zealand, they need to dominate the possession game once again. They controlled 51 percent of the possession in their win against Russia. That helped Portugal establish a 12-10 advantage in shot attempts and a 6-0 edge in the shots on target department against Russia.
