Coaches update on injuries ahead of thrilling final

Ahead of the OFC Nations Cup final, both New Zealand and Vanuatu have players in serious doubt to make the big fixture.

Both New Zealand’s Darren Bazeley and Vanuatu’s Juliano Schmeling have key figures who may not make the final, they both confirmed at the pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s final.

For NZ it is Tim Payne, who hobbled off the pitch in the semi final against Tahiti.

“Tim’s in recovery process today. He’s getting medical attention today. So we’ll find out later how serious that injury is.The medical department don’t make quick decisions until they’ve really diagnosed it properly. I’ll probably know by the time I get back to the hotel how he’s feeling,” Bazeley said on Football in Oceania’s question about the team’s injury situation.

“But apart from that, we’re in pretty good shape. Everyone’s recovered. And we’ve got a bit of a quiet day today where they’re doing some recovery. But we should be at full strength.”

For his counterpart, Schmeling, he had to see Bong Kalo coming off the field in the first half in their semi final. And the playmaker is unlikely to make the big game.

“At the moment, we’re still in that phase of investigating, try to see the doctor and see what’s the real situation of Bong. He got a very small chance to be part of the final, to be honest, at this stage. But we’ll see the results. And start getting more clear this afternoon in his situation. Apart from him, I think we are pretty much at full strength, taking Bong out of the list,” Schmeling said.

Both coaches now look forward to an exciting final, with both praising the other. Bazeley says he saw “a performance full of heart” in Vanuatu’s match against Fiji.

“I thought they played some really good football and was brave in possession. You know, when you look at the two teams,Vanuatu was a team, you know, trying to play out from the back and trying to play through the thirds and to try and get it to those tricky wingers they have that I thought performed very well on the day.”

“I think us and Vanuatu are the teams that have progressed quite nicely through the tournament. In regards to each game, probably stepping up and getting slightly better each performance.”

Schmeling knows his Vanuatu side will need to pull off a small miracle to get the win, but he has found some weaknesses in the NZ team, but he is for obvious reason not sharing them.

“We have analyzed them but we are not able to say something to you. Especially because they’re next to me as well,” he said, inciting a round of laughs from the attending media.

“So, we know the challenge we have and yeah, they have special players, but the structure they have is a very disciplined team, definitely have some strength. And we try to do our best. Therefore, like I said, for Sunday, we need to do a perfect game with no individual mistakes. If we can do that, we know that our group will fight to keep going, fighting like they did yesterday. And why not dream for the title?”

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