Town defender Tommy Smith is targeting qualification for the knock-out stages of the World Cup after New Zealand’s shock 1-1 draw with holders Italy on Sunday. A win from Thursday’s game against Paraguay, or perhaps even a draw, would take the All Whites through to the round of 16.
Smith told the club site: "We know that a win will guarantee qualification and even a draw could be enough, so there is definitely confidence throughout the squad that we can do it.
"We have always been confident in our own ability, it just seemed that everyone was writing us off before a ball had been kicked and that has made us want to succeed even more. We are all happy to be proving a lot of people wrong."
The 20-year-old felt Italy’s spotkick for his shirt pull on Daniele de Rossi was harsh: "The penalty was definitely a soft one. You see that sort of offence happening all the time and if refs gave penalties for every slight tug of a shirt there would be 20 penalties a game.
"Obviously with the theatrics, the referee has seen that. It was only a touch and he's gone down easily. He knew he was not going to get to the ball and he's flung himself to the floor.
"It was just unfortunate for us. You have got to put it behind you and I felt I got on with the game and did my duties."
Overall, Smith was delighted with his side’s performance: "Obviously it was a great result for us, to draw against the world champions. Just playing against them was a great experience but to get a point out of it was unthinkable to most people.
"We dealt with the Italian threat quite well. We soaked up a lot of pressure and they were restricted to long shots most of the time and our keeper pulled off a few good saves to keep us in it.
"We even had a chance to steal the win right at the end. If we had won it, it probably would have been the biggest shock in football history."
Smith’s team-mate Winston Reid, who plays for FC Midtjylland in Denmark, was impressed with the way his fellow defender got over the penalty: "Tommy did well to shrug that off. We were a bit harshly done by. He hardly touched him - there was some contact but he didn't pull or push him."