24 Apr 2003(Thu)

Everyone in the sports world has heard of the All Blacks, New Zealand's famous national rugby union team.

But what about the All Whites?

Well, that's New Zealand's national soccer team, who will play against Japan in the opening match of the FIFA Confederations Cup at Paris Saint-Denis on June 18.

But if Japan's players and coach think it is going to be easy, they could be in for a shock, according to Urawa Reds' Australian defender Ned Zelic.

Australia and New Zealand are the two major powers in FIFA's Oceania confederation, so Zelic knows the All Whites well.

Zelic is convinced New Zealand will be able to give Japan a hard game.

In fact he thinks football in the Oceania region is going to get better and better thanks to FIFA's decision to award one automatic qualifying place to the confederation for the 2006 World Cup.

"I think now all the Pacific teams are really going to improve with this chance they have been given in the World Cup," said Zelic, who has played in Australia, Germany, England and France before moving to Japan last year, first to join Kyoto Purple Sanga.

"You will see teams like Fiji and even Papua New Guinea getting stronger.

"As for New Zealand, they have not been easy to play in the past. Although we have beaten them on a regular basis, they will really start improving.

"They know now there is a place available at the next World Cup, and this is a big motivation for the players."

It was good to see Zelic in action again last Saturday, when Urawa beat Kyoto 2-0 at Komaba thanks to two terrific goals from Emerson and Keita Suzuki.

I can claim to be one of the few people to have seen Zelic play his only game for Purple Sanga just over a year ago, in a defeat at JEF United Ichihara!

He left the club shortly after that one appearance for personal reasons, but returned later in the season to play for Urawa Reds.

But a series of injuries restricted him to just one league appearance for Urawa last season, and a torn hamstring during the club's winter camp in Australia resulted in him missing the start of this season, too.

He is a quality player, skilful and elegant, and can add a lot of stability, composure and experience to the Reds team.

Zelic is a big fan of teammate Yuichiro Nagai, and was delighted for him when he scored the winning goal on his national team debut against Korea.

"For me this guy is a national team player. He has all the skills in the world and can beat one or two men at will. A guy with this potential has to be playing for the national team," said the Aussie.

ends