After three consecutive knockout appearances at the Men’s U20 World Cup, there was no reason to think that this Class of 2023 should be aiming for anything less. Particularly not after those previous efforts earned them a second seed for the draw and thus a pretty convenient outcome. Guatemala and Uzbekistan aren’t the daunting prospects they could have picked up otherwise. Host nation Argentina are quite daunting... but we don’t see them until the third match so it should be a free hit. Plus it’s always useful to have one Cool Experience game for the lads, a tale to tell for years down the line - like when the 2019 crew shut down Erling Haaland.

This squad doesn’t have the golden generation vibe of that team from four years ago and they’ve also got the handicap of having missed out on their U17s cycle due to all the pandemicry. However they proved through a flawless qualifying campaign (in which they didn’t concede a goal) and a solid selection of games since, including a 1-0 win over Ecuador in the week leading up to the tournament, that there’s no shortage of talent coming out of New Zealand these days. No reason not to go into this World Cup opener aiming for anything less than a big, juicy W.

Guatemala did actually beat this side 3-1 a couple months ago... but that didn’t count. It was the opening fixture of a quad-series in Indonesia back in February for which the NZers accepted a late invite, meaning they were scrambling to get players there in time for that match. They then beat Indonesia and Fiji in the other two games. A false alarm, don’t even worry about it.

There wasn’t any video released of the Ecuador win but there was a starting eleven. One which strongly suggested that they must have line up a back three. Well, against Guatemala the exact same eleven was named and sure enough it was a back three. With a midfield triangle and then two strikers. Kees Sims in goal, an all-Wellington Phoenix back three. A couple more Nixers in the midfield with Vancouver Whitecaps II playmaker Jay Herdman ahead of them. Then Oli Colloty (recently trialling at Barnsley as the latest stop on his English club tiki-tour) and Noah Karunaratne (Welly Nix again) up front.

Interestingly enough, ten of those players were part of the qualifying campaign. Kees Sims was the only starter from outside that earlier group. A couple of the subs were also fresh call-ups who weren’t part of the OFC thing but for the overwhelming most part coach Darren Bazeley stuck with the lads he knows the best – many of them already have long existing playing relationships as Wellington Phoenix Academy teammates too. Note that Welly Nix mentor Paul Temple (now the women’s coach, previously head of the academy) is one of Baze’s assistants here. Lots of familiarity.

Off we went. The game kicked off and instantly it was clear that Aotearoa was going to be the team with more possession, the team trying to control the tempo. Guatemala were happy to allow that right up until there was a chance to launch into a crunching tackle. Lots of fouls. A couple early yellow cards for the Guats. Pretty soon the NZers were getting in on the act themselves – ending up with almost twice as many fouls conceded despite their opponents getting the head start. It was sometimes scrappy. It was always passionate. That’s international footy for ya.

But although New Zealand had more of the ball, Guatemala still had the better attacking moments - albeit in a first half without hardly any game-breaking activities. But Guatemala at least had some transitional attacks to pounce into. Aotearoa did not... with their very defensive formation leaving striker Colloty isolated, having to drag himself all the way out to the wings to get involved. That also suggested that the wingbacks were too deep, plus the way they set up out of possession usually had Karunaratne sitting deeper alongside Herdman. Both of those two had some delicious touches but they were also dwelling on the ball too often with no decent outlets ahead of them.

The defence was more than tidy. Finn Surman led the way. Lukas Kelly-Heald had a strong game including some impressive passing. Always helps to have a left-footer in a back three. Isaac Hughes was less involved because of the flow of the game but he barely put a foot wrong himself. Then behind them Kees Sims made things look comfortable whenever he was tested, with only one diving stop in the second half looking anything other than textbook. That part of it was sweet as... but the lack of options going forward ensured that this thing stayed nil-all for a very long time.

Then, three-quarters of the way through the match, Bazeley made a double sub with Norman Garbett and Ben Wallace introduced for Adam Supyk and Noah Karunaratne. Garbett went out to the left wing. Wallace on the right. Kelly-Heald moved to left back. Herdman stepped further forward. Now they were in a 4-2-3-1 formation and things immediately looked more incisive, with link-ups in the attacking third and runners off the ball. Soon enough, this happened...

Norman Garbett with the speed in behind from the wing, then doing well to lift that ball over the keeper as two defenders also closed in on him. Lovely stuff. Norman of course is the younger brother of All Whites international Matthew. But while feasting upon that goal, gotta peel back and also admire the ball over the top from Fin Conchie. Absolute precision.

Garbett then kicked the Guatemala keeper in the face (accidentally after he was pushed in the back) leading to an extended injury break. The GUA physios were even stretching the goalie’s leg out for cramp at one stage. Eventually hauled him onto a stretcher. Didn’t look that bad... but you never know with them things. That helped tally up ten minutes of added time (those FIFA timekeepers again, aye?) and so Bazeley summoned Aaryan Raj and reverted back to the defensive trio again. The kiwis were able to see it through from there.

So there you have it, a 1-0 win in the first game. Guatemala got got. Three points on the board straight away and if they can repeat the dose against Uzbekistan then the knockouts will surely beckon once again. This was the same scoreline as the Ecuador warm-up game and, looking at some of the subs that were made in that one, it’s a good guess to say they probably did the same formation switcharoo there as well.

Honestly, not sure they needed to. Honduras had three forwards up against five defenders. This could have been a 4-2-3-1 from the start and maybe they’d have walked away with a 3-0 win instead. The NZers were no less defensively sound with the four than they were with the three, only difference was that during those twenty minutes they also created all of their best attacking chances. Really felt like they were overly conservative against an opponent they were good enough to go toe-to-toe with... but we shouldn’t ever complain about a win in a FIFA tournament so no dramas. All’s well that ends well and this one definitely ended well.

Darren Bazeley said afterwards that he was proud of the performance and of his players. He said that he felt they’d dominated possession throughout and added that he’d told the team at the break that things would open up more in the second half so he wanted them to be more attacking, to go and get something to show for their efforts, though it was only when he switched formations that it happened, with numbers able to support in attack. He also made a point of highlighting the impact of the substitutes.

In terms of standout players, Fin Conchie was superb in the midfield. A great passer who also wins the ball. There’s talk that one of the academy players at the Welly Nix could get offered a senior contract to fill out the midfield ranks and Conchie’s probably front of the queue after this showing. Then of course Norman Garbett has to get a mention for providing that spark off the bench. The back three were all sharp. Jay Herdman and Noah Karunaratne didn’t get enough room to shine but there were some exciting flashes... while Oli Colloty held the ball up smoothly despite being stranded on an island up front.

Curious that Kian Donkers, who split playing time (and split the Golden Boot) with Colloty in qualifying, wasn’t subbed on until the 85th minute. Thought there might’ve been more of a balance there – also wondered if Baze might’ve found a way to get both into the line-up. That duo mostly alternated starts during qualifying so it’s possible that Donkers gets his turn in the next one. Either that or he remains a very useful closer off the bench. Ben Wallace also provided some funky stuff as a sub. BW was the biggest surprise in the squad but he’s more than deserving of his spot from what we saw here.

Another idea: there weren’t enough set pieces for this to fully shine through but note also that this is a really tall New Zealand team. 15/21 players are at least 180cm tall and seven of those tower beyond 190cm (including reserve goalie Alby Kelly-Heald, twin bro of Lukas, who is the equal tallest player at the World Cup at 198cm). They should be able to dominate in the air... so it was a sneaky one to see them keep repeating the old ‘crowd the six-yard box’ tactic on corners...

In the other game of the group, Uzbekistan caused a few murmurs by scoring first against Argentina. Makhmudjon Makhamadjonov with the goal after 23 minutes. However the hosts struck back swiftly through Alejo Velez (27’) and then took the lead through Valentin Carboni (41’) and rolled on towards a 2-1 victory. Argentina weren’t able to select all their top U20s talent due to European clubs withholding them but that’ll still be a stacked side, no doubt, but Uzbekistan could be sneaky threats themselves. Their goal was a weird one where even the bloke himself assumed he was offside as he fizzed a shot past the keeper at the near post... but Arg’s left back was standing two metres too deep on the other side. They also temporarily won a penalty that was overturned by VAR. Pretty competitive against one of the glamour teams in men’s international footy. Can’t take them lightly. They did win the Asian qualification tourney after all.

Also, Fiji played their opener this morning and lost 4-0 to Slovakia. Ah well. New Zealand next plays on Wednesday at 6am against Uzbekistan. Fire up for that one. It’s that Abbosbek Fayzullaev versus Jay Herdman match-up that the whole world has been waiting for.

NZ U20s vs Guatemala:

Starting XI: Kees Sims, Isaac Hughes, Finn Surman, Lukas Kelly-Heald, Jackson Jarvie, Fin Conchie, Jackson Manuel (Dan McKay 85’), Adam Supyk (Ben Wallace 67’), Jay Herdman (Aaryan Raj 89’), Noah Karunaratne (Norman Garbett 67’), Oliver Colloty (Kian Donkers 85’)

Goal scored by Norman Garbett (Assist: Fin Conchie) in the 80th minute

Yellow cards for Hughes, L.Kelly-Heald, Manuel & Wallace

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