Darren Bazeley observed Haiti scoring four goals against his New Zealand side in a World Cup warm-up match. However, he believes Scotland's quality will ultimately prevail over the Caribbean team when the tournament begins. The New Zealand manager provided insights into what Steve Clarke's squad can expect in their World Cup opener tomorrow morning.
Bazeley's Assessment of Scotland's Chances
Bazeley stated, "I hope Scotland can beat them and I think they will beat them. Haiti are a good team but you would have to fancy the Scots. Scotland have players in some of the top leagues. They are used to being more disciplined in structure." He added, "You can definitely hurt Haiti. Your passing patterns will be massive. You move them around and the switches of play will be big, getting players in between the lines. It will be Haitian flair against a well-structured Scotland side."
New Zealand's Defeat Not Indicative
The loss to Haiti was a setback for the All Whites ahead of their match with Iran. Bazeley noted that the scoreline did not reflect the game's true nature. "We actually played quite well. I know we got beat 4-0 but it didn't really tell the true story. We had the same number of chances and 49 per cent possession. But they took their chances and we didn't. With our main team on, we were only 1-0 down. Then we made seven changes at the interval and a few more in the second half. It all became a bit disjointed. We chased the game and left ourselves open to counter-attacks."
Key Haitian Threats Identified
Bazeley identified Frantzdy Pierrot, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, and Duckens Nazon as the main dangers to Scotland. He commented, "Bellegarde, who is at Wolves, is a good player. The forward players Wilson Isidor and Nazon are also big for them along with Pierrot, who plays in Greece. Against us they played two up front. They had big strong boys. They are comfortable on the ball and when they were three or four up they started to bring out tricks and flicks. If they get their tails up then will take some stopping. Haiti are good. They are technically good and athletic, strong on the break. They are very strong when they overturn the ball. You have to kill those moments quickly. Once they start to gallop they are hard to stop because they have some pretty fast boys."
Scotland's Tactical Approach
Haiti is likely to attack the Scots. Bazeley explained, "They were 4-2-3-1 and then 4-4-2 at times. Structure-wise, you can hurt them. Scotland will give them a good game. You have the players to pull Haiti apart and get into good areas. But Scotland also need to be really cautious not to get hit on the counter-attack."
Fan Support in Boston
Haiti will have significant support in Boston, but Bazeley expects the Tartan Army to be louder. He said, "They will do well to out-sing Scotland's fans. There was something like 20,000 Haitians at our game – in Miami there is a big Haitian presence there. When they start attacking and the fans get excited, that really gave their team a lot of impetus."
