Experienced All Whites striker Shane Smeltz says the team are embracing their favouritism within Oceania and are focused on delivering a dominant performance against Fiji this week.
The OFC Nations Cup champions, who completed their second training in Wellington this afternoon in perfect conditions at David Farrington Park, head into the home and away fixtures in the next seven days looking to secure their place in the final stage of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
New Zealand secured four points in the home and away fixtures last November against New Caledonia, and the same result would see the team through to the OFC Final Playoff in August / September.
Smeltz, a member of the 2010 FIFA World Cup team, returns to the All Whites for the first time since 2015 and said the biggest challenge this week is getting their mind-set right.
“We’re clear favourites and I don’t think there’s anything to be too concerned about,” said the 35-year-old who has been in fine form for the Wellington Phoenix.
“If we’re relaxed that’s probably one of the biggest things that could hurt us but I’m sure if you’ve spoken to the gaffer that’s not going to happen. Everyone’s going to be on their toes from the minute they get into camp and make sure that we get the right result.”
Smeltz, who has played 51 internationals and scored 24 goals, has been called up to the national team many times but said the feeling never grows old.
“Whenever you get the opportunity to come to the national team camp it’s always the same feeling as I’ve said before so for me it’s just as exciting as the first camp I was called into and I’m looking forward to getting underway with the boys and obviously the gaffer.”
On naming his squad, All Whites coach Anthony Hudson said it was an easy decision to include the striker in his 23-man squad.
“Shane came with us to Myanmar and what I saw there was a guy who is a top pro and was great around the camp,” said Hudson. “I really enjoyed working with him and his performances of late have been great.
You would not think that he is the age that he is judging by the way he is playing.”
Even as one of the veterans, Smeltz feels like a new player. He is looking forward to working with newcomers Jai and Dane Ingham and said the senior players in the group need to work hard on making them comfortable.
“There’s no doubt that when you come into the camp at a young age you’re certainly looking at the senior boys so of course you have to be someone that they can look up to and hopefully aspire to be and go further than we’ve ever done,”
he said. “As a group we’re all together and I’m looking forward to working with these boys.”
Smeltz’s focus has been on the games coming up against Fiji where he will come up against a familiar face in Phoenix forward Roy Krishna.
“I think we’re concentrating on Fiji as a whole but obviously we know Roy, we know his strengths and he’s certainly one of their key players so it’s a good thing that we’ve worked with him week in, week out a lot of us boys and we know him but I don’t think there will be any sort of mate ship out there once we cross that line.”
Smeltz hasn’t been in the All Whites environment for the past two years and thinks the whole set up in terms of professionalism has improved markedly.
“The whole set up in terms of professionalism – we’ve raised the bar,” he said. “We continue to strive to raise the bar constantly. We’re constantly trying to improve every day at training and hopefully that’s going to show in the performances as well.”
Smeltz agreed with Hudson’s comments around removing the underdog tag.
He said belief will be huge when the team competes at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia in June.
“It’s taken time you know with the gaffer and things you can’t change straight away but I think if you look at what we’ve learnt from when he came in to now there’s been improvement in a lot of ways.”
The All Whites are training in Wellington until 23 March and then fly to Fiji on Friday 24 March.
All Whites v Fiji – OFC Stage Three Qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia
Game 1
When: Saturday 25 March, kick off 1pm (2pm NZ time)
Where: Churchill Park, Lautoka, Fiji
Game 2
When: Tuesday 28 March, kick off 7.35pm
Where: Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand
-NZ Football
