Fiji U23 Coach Rob Sherman says immense pressure will be on the hosts and defending champions New Zealand at the OFC Olympic Qualifier this week.
New Zealand was scheduled to open its OFC campaign against Papua New Guinea at 3pm at the Go Media Stadium in Auckland yesterday but the match was cancelled since PNG failed to fly into New Zealand on time.
“It is a big tournament,” Sharman told FijiLive.
“I’m not just saying that New Zealand are the hosts or favourites but looking at their past history, the pressure is really on them.”
“People will be expecting a lot from them and the players within the New Zealand team will be playing with full force and giving out everything they’ve got and it won’t be easy for them because.”
Sherman said they are expecting a firing performance and fireworks to be displayed when the two Pacific arch-rivals meet for their first match on Wednesday.
“We are expecting New Zealand to be an organised team in their specific way of playing.”
“They will be having players who play at a very high standard of football.”
“We have expectations around how they will set up their game day tack-ticks and we’ll be looking to address that and capitalise on any weaknesses they have.”
Fiji will face New Zealand in their opening Group A match at 3pm.
