New Zealand had not won any of their previous matches at three Confederations Cups dating back to 1999 but they had the better of the first half and went in 1-0 up thanks to a nice goal from Chris Wood.
Mexico's and New Zeland's players fight during the Confederations Cup, Group A soccer match between Mexico and New Zealand, at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi, Russia, Wednesday, June 21, 2017.
A return to Russian Federation for next summer's World Cup will only be possible if the All Whites, who must first win the qualifying section in Oceania, can then win a play-off against the team that finishes fifth in South America, which is a spot now occupied by Lionel Messi's Argentina.
A second Group A loss means New Zealand can't reach the semi-finals, regardless of their final group result against unbeaten Portugal on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo joined his teammates after he headed his side's victor against hosts Russian Federation on Wednesday and put his country top of Group A.
The referee had to separate the two sides as Mexico defeated New Zealand 2-1 in Sochi.
Expect Santos to select the likes of Nelson Semedo, Luis Neto and Jose Fonte in his starting XI vs New Zealand.
Fernando Santos is expected to rotate his squad, leaving out the likes of Ronaldo against the already-eliminated Kiwis.
Qatar receives list of demands from 'siege countries'
Qatar is the world's leading exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hosts the biggest American airbase in the Middle East . Stop granting citizenship to wanted nationals from Saudi Arabia , the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain.
"New Zealand is always a team who plays hard and fights hard, has good quality players who play in the UK".
We've seen zany finishes at the Confederations Cup before, as the USA beat Egypt 3-0 and Brazil topped Italy 3-0 on the final day of group play in 2009 to send the Americans past Italy and into the knockout rounds despite a tournament-opening 3-1 loss to the Italians.
Sure, Mexico struggled against New Zealand in the recent 2-1 win, but also fielded a backup roster in the narrow victory.
Captain Chris Wood, who scored the opening goal gainst Mexico for his 20th global goal, said there was no lack of belief in the squad.
"We certainly did not feel nervous, " he said.
New Zealand winger Marco Rojas has told Four Four Two that people need to remember that Wood is human and all players have had those games, noting that he did score as well - and praised New Zealand's football even if they couldn't kill the game off.
Wood's shock first-half goal for New Zealand was cancelled out by Raul Jimenez before Oribe Peralta notched a 72nd-minute victor. The next game is only three days away and we need to know who is ready.
World football governing body Fifa, however, has tried to stop the practice of teams kicking the ball out of play to allow treatment to injured opponents after it became routinely abused by players feigning injury to waste time or break up play.
Comments