The New Zealand U-17 men will take some hard-earned lessons into their upcoming World Cup campaign after a 7-1 humbling at the hands of Argentina in their final pre-tournament hit-out in Buenos Aires.

The match was coach Jose Figueira’s last chance to assess the progress of his charges before meeting Angola in their World Cup opener a week from now and he has plenty to think about after experiencing the full force of Argentina’s attacking flair.

The South Americans showed just why they are regarded as one of the world’s most powerful footballing nations with a rampant display, New Zealand able to respond only once through Oskar van Hattum mid-way through the first half.

That goal put Figueira’s side back into the game at 3-1 down but a fourth was conceded just before the break, giving New Zealand a hill that proved far too steep to climb in the second period.

“There’s certainly no hiding from a result like that,” Figueira said.

“But, putting things into context, we’ve come up against a fantastic team that were absolutely ruthless with real calibre and high quality right across the park. It was a step up from what we faced against Mexico and we were certainly punished for the mistakes that we made.”

Despite the heavy nature of the loss, Figueira has no regrets about taking on a side of Argentina’s class and is expecting his players to take much from the experience.

“It was certainly tough, no one ever wants to lose by those amounts and it’s never nice. But to have that kind of test and feel that level and intensity is an invaluable experience. The level of intensity, speed of thought, aggression and passion that Argentina played with today is something we don’t get to experience much back home,” he said.

“I think one of the biggest lessons is that you have to be switched on for every moment of the game. Of course we’re disappointed with the score getting blown out but those learnings are going to be so valuable for us.”

The result means New Zealand will now head across to Brazil for the FIFA U-17 World Cup on the back of two defeats after being edged out 2-0 by Mexico a few days earlier. But Figueira is satisfied with what has been achieved during the squad’s preparation time in Buenos Aires.

“Results aside, I think we’ve made some real progress,” he said.

“The result today probably doesn’t reflect much progress but when you look at it objectively you can’t beat the game experience. To play Argentina in Buenos Aires is the perfect preparation for playing Brazil in Brasilia so we’re looking forward. We’ll certainly be reviewing this but I believe the experience we’ve had over these past two games is going to hold us in great stead.”

New Zealand kick off their World Cup campaign against Angola on 27 October (NZT) before going on to meet hosts Brazil and Canada in their other group matches.

Match Details

Argentina 7
New Zealand 1 (Oskar van Hattum 23’)
HT: 4-1

Article added: Sunday 20 October 2019